AAP Internet Bulletin 1445 Friday Feb 19, 1999

AAP General News (Australia)
02-19-1999
AAP Internet Bulletin 1445 Friday Feb 19, 1999





[A][TAX HOWARD][FED]

Howard rejects GST exemption for food

Prime Minister John Howard today rejected suggestions that there was growing evidence for
food to be exempt from the GST.

Mr Howard said it was wrong to interpret that government members in a Senate tax report had
accepted food could be GST-free with little harm to the economic benefits.

"That interpretation is quite wrong," Mr Howard told reporters here.

"They in fact said no evidence was presented to the inquiry to justify the exclusion of
food.

"They also went on to say in efficiency terms the inclusion of food was desirable.

"And they also went on to say further that no evidence of disadvantage for the less well
off in the community was demonstrated."

Government members of the Senate inquiry into the GST said removing food would force a
reduction in the level of tax cuts to Australian workers.

Their comments, in a report of the Senate inquiry into the economic modelling of the
package, strengthens the Australian Democrats' demand to exempt food from the 10 per cent tax.

But Mr Howard said there was a long way to go in the tax debate. He played down prospects
of the Democrats seeking a boost to the GST compensation package.

"When you're in the situations of the Democrats you've got to find something to say each
day to keep yourself in the game," he said.





[A][HEROIN KENNETT][VIC]

Prohibition not enough -- police chief

International action by the United Nations was needed to counter the world drug problem,
Victorian police chief Neil Comrie said today.

Mr Comrie said the United Nations was addressing such problems as Kosovo, but it should
turn its attention to the sources of drugs around the world.

His call came as he reiterated his belief that prohibition of drugs alone did not work and
that a strictly controlled heroin trial should be conducted.

"I accept that the law enforcement prohibitionist model alone simply doesn't work," he
said.

Mr Comrie said he had come to a decision about three years ago that the hard line
prohibitionist approach in itself was not enough.

He now considered it would be worth trying a restricted, controlled heroin trial,
scientifically conducted on a small group of hard addicts who would otherwise either die from
their habit or continue committing crimes to support it.

While a lot could be done at the local level to deal with drugs, the international
community needed to do "a great deal more to address the root cause of the problem".

"We know where the opium poppy is grown; we know where the drug comes into Australia -
through Sydney.

"I cannot believe that we can spend billions of dollars each year through international
organisations such as the UN on military solutions ... and yet we don't seem to have come to
grips with dealing with the seriousness of the problem in Burma and surrounding countries
which produce this insidious drug.

"I think the international community needs to play a far more significant role in
addressing the production of this drug and preventing it getting to the shores of Australia.
Only then can we divert our attention to the symptoms of this drug."

Mr Comrie said a number of approaches could be taken by the UN, ranging from possibly using
some insect or bug that could destroy the crops, or spraying the crops with some chemical
substance that might eradicate it.

"Another means might be that the UN might be able to gather enough resources to actually
buy the crops and then destroy them before they're distributed.

On the local scene, Mr Comrie said law enforcement combined with health and education
approaches could have a significant impact on the drug problem.

Although he did not support drug "shooting galleries" he believed that controlled heroin
trials could be conducted.

But Federal Health Minister Michael Wooldridge is standing firm against any push to allow a
heroin trial.

Dr Wooldridge said he did not believe the trial, first suggested and rejected 18 months
ago, now had the support it would need from all state and territory leaders.





[A][MIGRANT SCIACCA][FED]

Immigration too low -- Kennett

Immigration to Australia was "ridiculously low" and the issue had been badly addressed in
recent years, Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett said today.

"The country needs people - without people we have no country ..." Mr Kennett told a
Liberal Party breakfast.

Australia had an ageing population and should be accepting young, skilled people who were
desperately trying to migrate here.

"We are now currently allowing 60,000 a year into the country - that is ridiculously low,"
he said.

"This issue of immigration, which has been so badly addressed in the last few years because
of a whole range of factors - it should be one of those issues that are bipartisan."

Mr Kennett welcomed the Victorian Labor Party's pledge in its newly released policy
platform to lobby for more international migrants to the state if it won government.

Federal opposition immigration spokesman Con Sciacca has backed the business lobby's push
for an annual intake of 123,000 immigrants in the next financial year - 43,000 more than the
intake for the current year.

But Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said today it was premature to be talking about numbers.

Mr Beazley said the ALP wanted a policy which would also look at population distribution
and ways to encourage population growth in areas such as Tasmania rather than Sydney.





[A][THEFTS][NSW]

Motorists warned on theft

Motorists were today warned to tighten security, after motoring and insurance giant NRMA
found thefts of belongings from cars had risen dramatically against a falling trend in the
number of cars stolen.

Figures released by the NRMA today revealed car theft in New South Wales dropped by 10 per
cent in the second half of 1998, compared with a 12 per cent rise in the number of thefts from
vehicles.

"Things are stolen from cars in carparks like the spare wheel and the jack. Leather
jackets, CDs, golf clubs and shopping is stolen from vehicles," NRMA community relations
manager Margaret Miller told journalists here.

"When it's at all possible park somewhere safe. Don't leave things in the car, not even
loose change, and certainly nothing expensive.

"It's obviously not possible with everything, and sometimes people have their car seats
stolen and baby car seats stolen."

Most offenders were youths in their late teens, probably stealing to support a drug habit,
Ms Miller said.

"Young opportunists sell the stuff to make money, most likely for drugs," she said.

"Cannabis use in young people is a good predictor for crime."

Although greater regulation of pawnshops and a requirement for several forms of
identification had stopped the sale of stolen goods through those outlets, there were still
many opportunities for thieves to dispose of their bounty, she said.

"The problem is there is a proliferation of unregulated merchandising like garage sales,
community markets, and things of that sort," she said.





[S][GAMES KENNETT][GAMES]

Games man sent home after request for 'lady'

Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett today maintained Melbourne's Commonwealth Games bid had been
conducted in the "finest tradition" after it was revealed an international delegate had been
asked to leave after requesting a "lady friend".

"I understood that he asked for the services of a lady and then approached a female staff
member at a hotel and accosted her," Mr Kennett told reporters.

"Under those circumstances we are not interested in having those people here as our guests
and they were shown very quickly to the airport.

"I think we upheld the finest traditions of what Australians would expect of us,
representing in this case not only the Victorian interest but also the Australian interest."

Asked whether it amounted to an attempt at an inducement, Mr Kennett said, "What? Seeking
women?"

The revelations have caused controversy because Melbourne, which is the only city in the
running for the 2006 games after Wellington withdrew its bid, has always said it has never
been approached by Commonwealth delegates seeking inducements for votes.

New Zealand radio station NewsTalk ZB last night aired a September interview with Mr
Kennett during the games in Kuala Lumpur in which he spoke of a delegate seeking favours.

"There was a request made and we thought that was against the spirit of the games and we
excused that delegate from Melbourne and put him on a plane back home," he said during last
year's radio interview.

"There are always some people who hint at what may or may not be provided. When that has
happened, we have quite clearly said that is not part of our game and we haven't responded to
any request like that."

Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Oceania representative Mike Hooper has said the CGF
will probably approach Mr Kennett and Melbourne bid chief Ron Walker for further details.





[T][OLY BRIBES FREDERICKS][OLY]

Sprinter tells IOC to clean itself up

Olympic silver medallist Frankie Fredericks today told the International Olympic Committee
to clean up its house before it had a right to call on athletes to be drug free.

In Sydney for tomorrow's grand prix meeting, Fredericks said the IOC could not tell
athletes not to cheat when it was embroiled itself in a bribery scandal surrounding bids for
the Games.

The Namibian sprinter said he was deeply disappointed for South African city Cape Town
which lost the bid to host the 2004 Olympics and said it was because the city did not offer
enough bribes.

Fredericks also said he would like to see athletes tested for drugs by an independent body
which had no ties to the Olympics.





[A][DISPUTES][FED]

Disputes up 85 per cent for month

Industrial disputes in Australia soared 85 per cent last November despite a continuing
decline in the annual figures, according to data released today.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said action by Centrelink staff and a teachers'
dispute in Victoria pushed the number of working days lost up to 38,100, compared to 20,600
the previous month.

The ABS said there were 75 disputes in November, the highest number since March 1995 when
86 disputes were recorded.

But it said the annual trend was pointing down, with the number of working days lost in the
12 months to November falling six per cent to 498,600.

"The trend is downward so it needs to be seen in that perspective," an ABS spokeswoman
said.

The annual figure for November was 46 per cent less than for the 12 months ended November
1996.

Construction (209,500) had the highest number of working days lost in the year ending
November, 1998, following by other manufacturing (66,500), education, health and community
services.

The highest number of lost working days per number of employees was in the coal industry
with 1,995.





[T][GOLF AUST][GOLF]

Conran catches Pampling

Qualified accountant Steve Conran produced some useful figures to catch Rod Pampling's
overnight lead in the second round of the $550,000 Canon Challenge in Sydney today.

One of only three players to break par in the tough afternoon conditions at the Terrey
Hills course yesterday, Conran wasted no time improving his position after his first round
two-under-par 70.

Conran birdied the first hole and picked up another shot at the fourth and one at the
ninth, to draw level with Pampling who, like most on the leaderboard, had an afternoon start
today.

The only other morning starter on the leaderboard was young Victorian Euan Walters, three
shots further back at two under.

Australian Masters champion Craig Spence continued to fight back from his five-over-par
front nine in a round of four-over 76 yesterday, picking up four shots after 13 holes today to
be back to level par and five strokes from the lead.

Still based in his hometown of Orange, NSW, the 32-year-old Conran won the 1989 Australian
Amateur Championship before turning professional but retained the handy fallback of an
accountancy degree.

That hasn't been necessary in recent times as he took the plunge on the Japan tour and has
enjoyed reasonable success there.

He missed last week's Australian Masters as his wife Virginia gave birth to their second
child on the Thursday but has earned $20,770 from seven starts on his home tour this season to
be 69th on the Order of Merit and well placed to retain his exempt status.





[A][RONA][QLD]

$100 million cyclone damage bill

Floodwaters and strong winds from Cyclone Rona have caused more than $100 million worth of
damage to far north Queensland centres between Ingham and Townsville.

But this $100 million preliminary estimate is sure to rise, Emergency Services Minister
Merri Rose said today.

She has made a two-day inspection of the region, meeting farmers, local government
authorities and residents.

"The damage bill to banana growers alone is $35 million," she told AAP.

Ms Rose said cyclonic winds of up to 180 kph had shredded banana plantations, destroying 60
per cent of the banana harvests that had been expected over the next five months.

"That's going to push the cost of bananas right up," she said.

A final estimate for the damage to sugar cane crops could not be determined until all the
cane fields dried out.

Ms Rose said many cane crops in the Ingham and Tully sugar growing region were still
submerged.

Even if the crops survived the long soak, the sugar content of the cane will be leached
out, further reducing cane farmers' incomes in a period of low world sugar prices.

Ms Rose said business people in centres such as Ingham were "in limbo". Insurance assessors
still had not arrived, more than a week after Cyclone Rona crossed the coast just north of
Cairns.





[A][AIRLINES][FED]

Qantas: open skies will close routes

Qantas Airways chief executive James Strong warned today of a "rationalisation" of regional
air services if the federal government backs a plan to open domestic routes to foreign
carriers.

Federal cabinet will next month decide on a recommendation from the Productivity Commission
for Australia to negotiate an "open skies" agreement with other countries.

But Mr Strong said such a move would force rationalisation in the aviation industry and his
warning was supported by Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer.

Mr Strong said no other country allows foreign countries to pick off routes in the domestic
system.

"There's very uneven distribution of profitability around Australia in airline operations
as there is in many other industries," he told ABC radio's AM program.

"If you force severe rationalisation then obviously that means that companies that have to
get a return on the funds invested have to take steps to adjust their operations."

Mr Fischer said he took note of the concerns of Qantas and Ansett Airways, which yesterday
both announced big profits.

"We're not about gutting their operations by giving away the prize of open skies without
something in return," Mr Fischer said.

Transport Minister John Anderson and the cabinet would be giving the matter careful
consideration and would take particular note of the comments from Qantas, he said.

"We have to find a way forward which does not jeopardise unfairly, unjustly," Mr Fischer
said.





[A][OCALAN AUST][FED]

Govt concedes Oly security in doubt

Federal Justice Minister Amanda Vanstone conceded today that security for the Sydney
Olympics needed to be looked at in the wake of the lapses which allowed a violent attack this
week on the Greek consulate in central Sydney.

Sixty-five Kurdish protesters were arrested for storming the city office block early on
Wednesday, some dousing themselves with petrol and threatening to set themselves alight.

The New South Wales government said police did not receive any specific warning from
federal authorities that the Sydney consulate might be targeted by Kurdish demonstrators
following the capture by Turkish authorities of Kurd rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan.

As the federal and NSW police continued to point the blame at one another, Senator Vanstone
said the incident raised questions about Olympic security.

"I'd like to hear from NSW as to what local police were in fact deployed and what
understanding they did have of the situation," she said when asked on Channel Nine's Today
show about implications for the Olympics.

"But I think the question of security arrangements needs to be discussed."

Senator Vanstone insisted that federal authorities gave NSW police specific warnings on the
night before the consulate raid that Greek and Turkish missions might be attacked.

"With three phone calls between 7pm and midnight, what does anyone think these people were
talking about?" she said.

"Do they think they were having a chat about the weather? These are specialist security
people who are ringing the NSW Police security group. They're not ringing for the purpose of
having a chat."

Senator Vanstone denied that the large number of federal agencies involved in security at
diplomatic missions caused confusion.





[T][OLY BRIBES BAIRD][FED]

Baird clarifies media agreement

Former Olympics minister Bruce Baird said today he did not ask newspaper publishers to
censor anything about Sydney's 1993 bid for the 2000 Games.

Mr Baird, now a federal Liberal backbencher, said he was seeking their support for a bid
and trying to ensure they did not have an "incorrect perception" of what was involved in the
lobbying process.

He said there was never a deal with the media, including Channel Nine owner Kerry Packer
and then News Ltd Australian chief Ken Cowley.

"There was not a formalised agreement, rather a general indication of support for the bid,"
he said in a statement.

"To my best recollection, we discussed what would be involved in running the bid and
problems that other cities had experienced so we could ensure that Sydney maximised its
chances of winning the Games.

"Part of that was the issue of intense coverage of the costs and extensive activities
involved in the Olympic lobbying process.

"But I certainly did not ask them to censor anything or not to investigate matters if they
considered it appropriate."

Sydney has been dragged into the widespread allegations of bribery surrounding the Olympic
movement following the scandal involving Salt Lake City's bid for the 2002 Winter Games.

But Mr Baird has said the Sydney bid was clean.





[S][CRICKET AUST][CRIK]

Windies still to be feared -- Slater

Michael Slater will fear Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh as much as ever when he walks
onto Queen's Park Oval at Trinidad to open for Australia in the first Test against the West
Indies.

And he will have a healthy respect for unheralded trio Franklyn Rose, Merv Dillon and Nixon
McLean, who he claims are as swift as any of the legendary pacemen produced by the Windies in
recent times.

Slater said the Windies' decline in the past four years is due to poor batting - their
highest score in the disastrous five-Test series against South Africa was 271 - and their pace
battery is still among the world's best.

It's a warning to members of the Australian touring party who have never seen Rose, Dillon
and McLean, and could be ready to dismiss them as second-rate bowlers before the series opener
starting on March 5.

"I've faced Rose and McLean in county cricket and, believe me, they're as quick as any of
the others that have been there before them," Slater said.

"And from what I've heard, Dillon is the same.

"They (the Windies) have always got these four or five guys who can come in for this pace
barrage and to me, they still look as strong as they always have with the ball."

At least two of the trio, probably Rose and McLean, are likely to play the first Test on a
pitch Slater expects to be a fast bowler's paradise.

Asked about Ambrose and Walsh, both desperate to beat Australia before retiring, Slater
said: "They're four years older than the last time we were there and they've both had a couple
of nagging injuries, but they're the type of blokes you can never underestimate.

"I played against Walsh last year in England as well, when he bowled all day for
Gloucester, and someone who played against Ambrose recently told me he was still very
dangerous.

"Their bowling is as strong as it's always been. It's always a great challenge to any
batsman in the Windies, you know you're batting well if you get runs against them."

Slater's record against the Windies is not good. In four Tests, he has managed just 139
runs at an average of 23.16, compared to his career average of 45.64.





[F][AUST STOCKS CLOSE]

Corporate profits rising -- analysts

Australian corporate profits in the last quarter of calendar 1998 were expected to show a
small rise with results varying considerably across sectors of the economy.

Generally, weakness in the mining sector should be offset by strength in export industries
which redirected their sales away from the troubled Asian region and to Europe and North
America.

Profits should also be buoyed by strong domestic demand and productivity growth.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the data next Tuesday.

Corporate profits, before income tax, net interest paid and depreciation, in the December
quarter were expected to rise a median 1.8 per cent, seasonally adjusted.

Forecasts range from a fall of 1.5 per cent to a rise of 5.5 per cent, after a fall of 2.2
per cent in the September quarter.

GIO chief economist Akis Haralobopoulos forecast profits to be up 5.5 per cent in the
quarter to show a 17 per cent gain over the year.

"Company profitability has been relatively resilient over the last year and is expected to
maintain a reasonable level of momentum near term," he said.

But Mr Haralobopoulos said company profitability outcomes were expected to vary widely
between sectors over the next year.

He said, based on the Australian business expectations survey a month ago, the outlook for
profits this year was encouraging but the strength of any rise would be driven by strong
volume growth and only a slight rise in prices.



[A][CABAL][VIC]

Cabal being detained illegally, court told

Former Mexican banker Carlos Cabal Peniche was being illegally detained and treated
inhumanely, the Melbourne Magistrates Court was told today.

Cabal's lawyer, Robert Richter, QC, said he went to see his client and he was handcuffed.

"In my 27 years experience I have never interviewed a client who is sitting there in
handcuffs," Mr Richter told the court.

He wanted some assurance that Cabal was not "shackled" because it was inhumane.

Mr Richter said Cabal should be released from custody because he had been illegally
detained since December 26, 1998.

Authorities had not complied with the legal requirements necessary within his 45 days in
custody, he said.

Cabal was arrested on November 11 last year in Melbourne.

Representing the Mexican government, Susan Crennan, QC, argued that Mr Richter's facts were
wrong and that Cabal had been brought before a court within the 45 days as required.

Cabal was arrested in Melbourne on a provisional warrant in relation to an alleged $US700
million ($A1,106 million) banking fraud involving his banking group Grupo Financiero
Cremi-Union which collapsed in 1994.

The bail application before Magistrate Barry Braun is continuing.

KEYWORD: NETNEWS 1445

1999 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.