NSW: No plans to sell off other prisons: Rees

AAP General News (Australia)
02-04-2009
NSW: No plans to sell off other prisons: Rees

SYDNEY, Feb 4 AAP - Premier Nathan Rees says he has no current plans to sell off more
than two NSW prisons amid union fears the entire sector maybe privatised.

More than 100 prison officers walked off the job at Sydney's Long Bay Jail on Wednesday
calling for an end to plans to privatise NSW prisons.

The NSW government has announced plans to sell off Sydney's Parklea and the Hunter's
Cessnock prisons, but the NSW Public Service Association says the privatisation would
not stop there.

Mr Rees on Thursday said there were no plans "at this …

Humous, cafe hafuch and spy sharks

BENJI LOVITT
Jerusalem Post
05-09-2011
Humous, cafe hafuch and spy sharks
Byline: BENJI LOVITT
Edition: Independence Day Supplement
Section: Features
Type: News

1 I love the awesome Israeli breakfast served up at cafes around the country. Salad, cheeses, cafe hafuch and more. The only way red and green is seen on a plate in America is in a bowl of Lucky Charms. (I have no idea how I missed this in the previous years' lists. I think someone dropped a pan of shakshuka on my head.)

2 I love the "camels crossing" road sign in the Negev. That, and the "Dangerous Curves" sign, which sounds like an action movie starring Bar Refaeli as a cop.
3 I love that when I called the wrong number on Purim eve, the guy had the courtesy to say "hag sameah" before hanging up.

4 I love how the Bezeq guy gave me Internet service only after kissing the mezuza on my doorpost. I appreciate the service, but how about kissing my bill down NIS 50 a month?

5 I love how our start-up nation created the Iron Dome defense system to shoot down enemy rockets. And is it just me, or does "Iron Dome" sound like the name of an Israeli condom?

6 Speaking of Iron Domes, I love the Rosh Hashana ads that you can only see in Israel.

7 I love that you can talk to a complete stranger for five minutes, ask if his sister is single, and not get punched in the face.

8 I love how you can talk on a first date about how many kids you want to send to the army.

9 I love that during the summer, you could hike 40 kilometers underground and somehow still end up at an ice cream truck.

10 I love that I contacted Pelephone via Twitter, and within 24 hours, they had arranged for Ori, the customer service guy, to come to my house to pitch me their deal. By the way, if you're ever entering a hotel for a Twitter event and security asks you what you're there for, just lie. Nothing sounds dorkier than "Tweet- up.")

11 I love that Israeli DVD players can play discs from all zones. Why download? (Oh yeah. Because I'm not willing to admit that I paid money to see Twilight.)

12 I love how after the recent tsunami, Israel was one of the first nations to send aid to Japan. Who knows better how to get excess water off the floors than Israelis?

13 I love the use of gematria to refer to everything from days of the week to class grade levels. Take that, Romans.

14 I love that I couldn't understand why my Israeli friend kept saying "which makolet (grocery store)" in conversation until I realized he was trying to say "whatchamacallit."

15 I love that the Kinneret recently topped the red line. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be in the shower till July.

16 I love that despite an average annual rainfall of approximately 1 cubic millimeter, we manage to grow organic tomatoes and other delicious vegetables in the Negev. (Did I mention that the Negev is a desert?)

17 I love how you could sneeze in almost any direction and hit a country that serves as an affordable, last-minute hot spot. Hey, even Zionists need a vacation.

17 1/2. The desert!?! Are you kidding me?!

18 I love that I almost asked my oleh friend's sabra kid what his favorite Jewish holiday was before realizing how bizarre that would sound to an Israeli child. (Me: "Hey, John Smith in Biloxi, Mississippi - what's your favorite Christian holiday?" JS: "What the hell are you talking about?")

19 I love Rosh Hashana and Pessah, where the office gets together for a toast. (Hey, I'm not gonna lie - the gift cards ain't bad, either.)

20 I love that the produce is so good here that fruit salad makes a delicious dessert. Because how healthy can something called "Death by Chocolate" really be?

21 I love when the guy behind the counter offers you a free felafel ball while you're waiting to be served. Ahi, I'm already sold. You're just teasing me now.

22 I love how the Tel Aviv nightclubs play religious music put to a dance beat. Even if someone hasn't stepped into a synagogue since his bar mitzva, he'll shake his rumpus to the "Mashiach! Mashiach! Mashiach!" song till 5 a.m.

23 I love the visibly improving customer service in this country, such as the guy at the Sambooki bakery on Jerusalem's Jaffa Road who let me have the takeout price despite my eating in.

24 I love that Natalie Portman admitted that she consumes her own weight in humous every day. As if she wasn't hot enough already.

25 I love that I have never once ordered a cafe hafuch and been disappointed. Incidentally, I'd like to open a coffee shop called Cafe Herzl with our slogan being, "If you spill it, there is no cream."

26 I love that even if I don't know how to say something in Hebrew, I can add "atzia" to the end of it and be 75.6 percent certain that it's actually a word. "Demonstratzia." "Confrontatzia." "Conflagratzia." (If you're talking to me and I look like I'm not paying attention, I'm probably repeating something you said in my head.)

27 I love having a benefactor. His name is Mr. Misrad Habinui (Construction Ministry) and he seems determined to put money in my bank account till the end of time. Thank you, Mr. Habinui! Are you French?

28 I love that even aliens found reason to come visit our country, descending above the Temple Mount. I hope our security guards interrogated them thoroughly. "Did anyone give you something before you entered our atmosphere?"

29 I love that if I wanted to, I could take out tefillin on an El Al flight without the flight crew having to make an emergency landing. Let's review this again: "If El Al doesn't do it, no one should do it."

30 I love that blissful moment near the end of the wedding when Mashina's "Ein Makom Aher" (There's No Place Else) comes on and limbs start flailing around the dance floor.

31 I love the little girls on Rehov Emek Refaim who sell cookies to raise money for their youth movements. That's just cute.

32 I love that the Israeli company Better Place seems like a sure thing to revolutionize the world by creating electric cars. Shai Agassi, if your creative/marketing team is hiring, I think we should talk.

33 I love that someone gave me access to a website with the password "chumus1948." Only in Israel.

34 I love the things Israelis are willing to help with out of the goodness of their hearts, like when my friend Idan helped me move two hours before Shabbat. Not only did the dude carry my stuff up a flight of stairs while I was busy talking with my landlord, he looked at me like I was crazy when I tried to buy him lunch afterward. I don't know what strange affliction you people have, but it's a beautiful thing. ("Afflictzia.")

35 More insanely nice behavior: I love that after a fire in my apartment, a random city hall worker personally invited me to his house for Shabbat. Israelis, if a robber breaks into your house, do you call the police only after offering him a hot drink?

36 I love the new deal-of-the-day websites like Groopbuy, Groupon and Baligam that help us shoppers find great discounts. I plan to start the site Lobaligam.com, where I sell a goat, used dental floss and a cup of dirt.

37 I love that our intelligence services are so good that our neighbors actually believe we're employing sharks and vultures as Mossad agents. That explains why we have so many cats in this country. They're doing intel.

38 I love that Tel Aviv is so great, Duran Duran wrote a song about it. Now when is The Knack going to come to Israel to perform their hit song "My Dimona"?

39 I love that I came across a job advertisement seeking someone possessing "expertise in shwarma."

40 I love that Stanley Fischer helped keep Israel from suffering as much as many other countries during the worldwide economic crisis. Thanks to Stan the Man, I can maintain the "cafe hafuch" column in my personal budget.

41 I love the random stands on the side of the highway selling strawberries, flowers and more. It's like the shuk decided to set up satellite offices around the country minus the screaming.

42 I love that before Pessah, the television jingles are sung to tunes from the Haggada - like the special Bamba 'pyramid' snacks. (This deserves its own discussion)

43 I love that the Schusterman Foundatzia in Israel paid for 700 children from the South to see Justin Bieber after their communities were hit by rockets. (Insert gratuitous joke along the lines of "Haven't they suffered enough?")

44 I love different ethnic groups' observances, like Mimouna or Sigd, which this Ashkenazi Jew had never heard of before making aliya. I wouldn't be surprised to discover that Jews from Antarctica celebrate Hanukka by eating fried snow cones.

45 I love that people here are named after characters from the Bible or things in nature, rather than a quarterback who five minutes ago won a playoff game. (Little known fact: If you're an Israeli woman named Noa, there is a 92.3% chance that you're hot.)

46 I love that the Knesset approved free dental care for children up to the age of eight. Now where can I find me an XXL Hannah Montana shirt?

47 I love that even though I have been here almost five years, I can get free Ulpan from reading the subtitles to old Seinfeld episodes. "Newman, hellooo." uuukv inuhb

48 I love having an epiphany about the English origin of a Hebrew word. "Mastik"... "masticate." Ahhhhhhhh!

49 I love having an epiphany about the Hebrew origin of an English word. "Maven".... "meh-veen." Ahhhhhhhhh!

50 I love that if I had to hitchhike, not only would it probably be much safer than in most other countries, but I could also find a mutual friend in the driver within the first five minutes.

50 1/2: We grow tomatoes in the desert! Jeez!

51 I love that when I clicked "Contact" on Ivri's Lider's website to ask a question, I got a reply within one hour from Ivri himself. The moment Bono returns one of my e-mails is the moment felafel flies out of my tusik.

52 I love the Israeli iPhone apps: Waze, Fooducate, and most importantly, iHummus. I don't care how big a bowl of humous Lebanon can make - can they carry it around in their pockets? Suck this, Hezbollah.

53 I love that when I accompanied a friend to shop for a dress, she didn't have to explain what "tzanua" (modest) meant.

54 I love that the public transportation system is growing before our eyes, with the Jerusalem light rail, better bus maps, and digital displays of upcoming stops. Now if they could open the in- flight shwarma bar by 2013, we'd all be happy.

55 I love that restaurants manage to stay open during Pessah while serving kosher food. Hey, it may not taste the best, but at least it's our not-great-tasting food.

56 I love that somehow, despite my having already thought of 183 things in the three previous years, there is still enough beauty to somehow churn out 63 more things I love about this wonderful country. I don't know how I'm going to keep this going next year. (This list would have been so much easier in the 1950s. "Happy third birthday, Israel! Here are three things I love about you: I love that you exist. I love speaking Hebrew. I love being a majority. Hag sameah, everybody!")

57 I love the resilience of the guy who reopened his kiosk near Binyenei Ha'uma after suffering the second terror attack to hit his store. I'll buy Bissli from you any time, my friend.

58 I love that no matter your level of religious observance or where you are - be it Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or anything in between - Shabbat is more than just a weekend.

59 I love the tight bond and feeling of togetherness I share with the fraternity of people who have made aliya. You could introduce me to a blind septuagenarian Eskimo immigrant and we'd have hours of shared experiences to laugh about.

60 I said it last year, and I'll say it again: I love cafe hafuch and I love humous. God, I love them.

61 I love that on August 10, I'll be celebrating five years in Israel. Eich omrim "holy schnitzel?"

62 I love that no matter how much time passes, our society refuses to let Gilad Schalit fade from our consciousness even one iota.

63 I love that I've had this once-in-a-lifetime experience and that it's not over yet.

Benji Lovitt is a stand-up comic and writer.

www.benjilovitt.com.(c) Copyright Jerusalem Post. All rights reserved.

(Copyright 2011 The Jerusalem Post)

WA:Known bushfire arsonists targeted in WA

AAP General News (Australia)
12-01-2011
WA:Known bushfire arsonists targeted in WA

PERTH, Dec 1 AAP - West Australian police will target 40 known arsonists this summer
in a bid to reduce the bushfire risk.

Officers would also patrol areas identified as high risk as part of Strike Force Vulcan,
WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan says.

The strategy is designed to reduce the number of deliberately lit bushfires.

A recent report by the Australian Institute of Criminology found that WA had the highest
incidence of suspicious and deliberate bushfires in the nation.

Half of the 5250 bushfires reported across the state last bushfire season were deemed
deliberate or suspicious and of those 65 per cent were lit in the Perth metropolitan area.

Mr O'Callaghan said on Thursday that bushfire arson resulted in large costs for the
community in terms of loss of life, injury and significant property damage.

Strike Force Vulcan aimed to reduce the risk from deliberately lit bushfires as well
as those caused by reckless behaviour, he said.

The strategy follows a recommendation from the Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission
for a pro-active police intervention plan similar to South Australia's successful Operation
Nomad.

Strike Force Vulcan will identify and target prolific arsonists and rate them as being
of high, medium or low risk of reoffending.

Police will conduct dedicated patrols across the metropolitan area including a number
of high risk locations identified as being prone to deliberately lit bushfires.

The patrols will be stepped up on days where the fire risk classification is extreme
or catastrophic and include aerial surveillance by the Police Airwing.

Last week 32 houses and nine holiday chalets were destroyed in the Margaret River region
in WA's southwest after a prescribed burn by the Department of Environment and Conservation
got out of control.

In February 71 houses were destroyed in the Perth Hills when sparks from an angle grinder
started a blaze.

WA's bushfire season runs from December 1, 2011 until March 31, 2012.

AAP ldj/jnb

KEYWORD: BUSHFIRE WA ARSON

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

In tiny fib online, risks for children

MATT RICHTEL; MIGUEL HELFT
International Herald Tribune
03-14-2011
In tiny fib online, risks for children
Byline: MATT RICHTEL; MIGUEL HELFT
Type: News

Millions of American children are lying about their age to dodge U.S. regulations for joining Web sites like Facebook, letting them loose in a digital world they may not be prepared to handle.

Across the United States, millions of children are lying about their ages so they can create accounts on popular sites like Facebook and Myspace. These sites require users to be 13 or older, to avoid U.S. regulations that apply to sites with younger members. But to children, that rule is a minor obstacle that stands between them and what everybody else is doing.
American parents regularly go along with the age inflation, giving permission and helping children set up accounts. They often see it as a minor fib that is necessary to let their children participate in the digital world.

Plenty of people fudge the truth about their age, whether to buy beer or project a younger image to potential mates. But researchers and other critics say allowing children to break the rules sends the wrong message. And, they argue, it sets children loose in a digital world they may not be prepared for -- exposing them to the real- life threats of inappropriate content, contact from strangers and the growing incidents of bullying by computer.

"Not only are kids lying about their age, but more often than not, parents teach them to lie about their age," said Danah Boyd, a social media researcher at Microsoft.

Ms. Boyd said this ran counter to the goal of getting parents more constructively involved in children's online activities, which was one aim of the legislation that spawned the age restrictions in the first place.

At the same time, the practice is hard to stop, Web sites and U.S. officials say. Sites try to catch under-age users -- "We are not burying our head in the sand," said Joe Sullivan, the chief security officer at Facebook -- but verifying a person's age over the Internet is a task that ranges from tricky to nearly impossible.

Cristina Flores, 44, a nurse in San Francisco, said she had decided to allow her 11-year-old son to get onto Facebook rather than deny it to him and risk his signing up behind her back. Besides, she said, she did not realize there were age restrictions on the site.

"It's not like there's a legal age limit for being on the Internet," Ms. Flores said.

Her son Jake said he had told Facebook that he was 15: "I just picked something random."

In one of Jake's fifth-grade classes, 15 of the 30 students said they had Facebook accounts.

The risks for under-age members of social networks are not theoretical. Hemanshu Nigam, the former chief security officer of Myspace, who now runs an Internet safety consulting business, recounted a recent incident from his business. In New York State, he said, an 11-year-old boy accepted a friend request on Facebook from a girl in his class. But the girl's account was fake, and the person behind it began posting images of the boy on sex-oriented sites, along with nasty comments.

When the boy's images started showing up in Google searches, the school suspected that he had posted them and summoned his parents. Other children began picking on him.

"It can be a living nightmare for an 11-year-old who just wanted to hang out with his friends," Mr. Nigam said.

In 2006, 31 percent of 12-year-olds in the United States were using social networks, according to the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project. That figure grew to 38 percent by 2009, when the survey was last done.

ComScore, a firm that measures Internet traffic, estimates that 3.6 million of Facebook's 153 million monthly visitors in the United States are younger than 12. Some of those visitors may not have Facebook accounts and may simply be visiting public pages, comScore said. (It reached that figure by cross-referencing its traffic analysis with demographics.)

Internet companies have set up the rules against under-age users because they must comply with the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, passed in 1998, which says Web sites that collect information from children younger than 13 must obtain parental consent.

Obtaining that consent is complex and expensive, so companies like Facebook and Google, which owns YouTube, reject anyone who tries to sign up using an age below 13. Google, Facebook and Yahoo all declined to talk about how many children jumped the barriers, but they say they tried to enforce the rules.

Mr. Sullivan of Facebook said the company blocked new registrations or deleted the accounts of thousands of under-age users every day.

Facebook has measures to protect older teenagers from predators, but children who pretend to be older than 18 are bypassing even those safeguards, which place restrictions on how widely minors can share information and who can contact them on the site.

The Federal Trade Commission, which is charged with enforcing the child protection act, acknowledges the problem. But Mary K. Engle, associate director for advertising practices at the commission, said there was no good solution.

"I don't think anyone knows how to prevent a kid from lying about their age," Ms. Engle said.

Copyright International Herald Tribune Mar 14, 2011

NSW:Hundreds remain evacuated after floods

AAP General News (Australia)
12-07-2010
NSW:Hundreds remain evacuated after floods

Hundreds of New South Wales residents are unlikely to be able to return to their flood-isolated
homes anytime soon .. with heavy rain expected later this week.

About 720 residents have been evacuated from Gumly Gumly and from East and North Wagga
Wagga .. with heavy downpours expected to bring up to 80 millimetres of rain tomorrow
and Thursday.

NSW Premier KRISTINA KENEALLY has declared a further six shires natural disaster areas
.. bringing the total number of declared shires to 17.

Farmers say up to half of the state's 2.5 billion dollar wheat crop could be wiped out.

AAP RTV lxs/jkl

KEYWORD: FLOODS NSW (SYDNEY)

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Rudd to examine downside of pensioners' sunny payments

AAP General News (Australia)
04-30-2010
Fed: Rudd to examine downside of pensioners' sunny payments

CANBERRA, April 30 AAP - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the government could "fine
tune" the system that docks pensioner welfare payments if they sell solar power back into
the grid.

Pensioners have this week complained that if they install solar panels and sell any
excess power, Centrelink counts cash payments and power bill rebates as income.

Mr Rudd on Friday told the Seven Network he'd examine the issue.

"Let's look and see if there's any fine tuning possible here," the prime minister said.

"(But) the pension system has been around for a long time and it counts all forms of income."

Mr Rudd said pensioners could earn about $150 a fortnight without it affecting their
pension. Couples could earn about $250.

"Most of those panels are designed so that you could perhaps feed back into the grid
$50 or $60 a fortnight.

"(So) it should be therefore doable without really affecting people's pension."

AAP jcd/it

KEYWORD: SOLAR

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

WA: Four-year-old partially disembowelled in pool accident

AAP General News (Australia)
12-16-2009
WA: Four-year-old partially disembowelled in pool accident

By Aleisha Preedy

PERTH, Dec 16 AAP - A four-year-old West Australian boy is recovering after being partially
disembowelled when he sat on a swimming pool skimmer box.

The boy was in the pool at his home in Gosnells, in Perth's southeast, when the accident
happened on December 5, the WA Department of Consumer Protection division says.

He sat on the skimmer box, a filtering device on the edge of the pool which removes
leaves and dirt from the water, and the suction of the pool's filter pump damaged a portion
of his small and large intestine.

He spent a week receiving treatment at Perth's Princess Margaret Hospital and is now
recovering at home, but will require the use of a colostomy bag for several months while
his injuries heal.

The consumer protection department issued a warning about the danger of pool equipment
on Wednesday, following an inquiry into the incident.

Consumer Protection Commissioner Anne Driscoll warned owners of older-style swimming
pools, installed prior to 1988, to check skimmer boxes cannot be accessed by children.

"In older-style pools these skimmer boxes look like a seat or potty that a child can
easily sit in unless there is a physical barrier or the lid is permanently secured down,"

Ms Driscoll said.

"If children sit in a skimmer box it can cause horrific injuries and even death.

"It's important that skimmer boxes have a safety skirt or lid installed which is a
vertical barrier preventing children from sitting on the box and that the lid is securely
fixed and can only be removed with tools and not by hand."

AAP ap/ah/srp

KEYWORD: POOL

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Pirates eye off cruise ships

AAP General News (Australia)
08-07-2009
Fed: Pirates eye off cruise ships

By Jessica Marszalek

BRISBANE, Aug 7 AAP - Armed guards could become a feature at cruise ship cocktail bars
and swimming pools as the threat of sea piracy escalates, a tourism security expert says.

Cruise ships will increasingly become floating terrorism targets as security at airports
increases and hardliners look to other easy options, according to tourism crisis and recovery
management specialist David Beirman.

Dr Beirman will use this month's Tourism Futures conference on the Gold Coast to warn
of the impending threat and talk about the surveillance and security that will be needed
on vessels in the future.

Dr Beirman said airports had strengthened security after the September 11, 2001 terror
attacks in the US, making aircraft a tougher target.

Tour buses and hotels were easier marks, as seen in last month's Indonesian hotel bombings,
he said.

"So every day we find different types of security threats to different elements of
the tourism and hospitality industry," he said.

Last December, six bandits in two small speedboats, believed to be operating from the
pirate haven of Somalia, approached the cruise ship Nautica, off the coast of Yemen.

It was carrying 684 passengers and nearly 400 crew members on a 32-day cruise from
Rome to Singapore.

The pirates managed to fire eight rounds at the Nautica before the cruise ship was
able to increase its speed and pull away to safety.

Dr Beirman said such incidents had compelled some cruise ship companies to take tough
security measures.

"There are a few things - number one is surveillance so that on the bridge they are
able to keep a good watch on what sort of vessels are approaching," he said.

"There's now the necessity that cruise ships that might be sailing in waters that could
be considered dangerous ... should perhaps have some armed security on board.

"Some have gone to an even greater extent and have had some kind of missile defence.

"I'm not suggesting the QE2 turns into an aircraft carrier ... but there are a number
of basic security measures that can be taken."

Dr Beirman said maritime choke points such as the Strait of Malacca, which runs between
the Indonesian island of Sumatra and southern Thailand, were particularly vulnerable to
sea piracy.

But many cruise ships were not adequately prepared for the increasing risk.

"The thing which is a concern in many ways is that because terrorists' number one motive
of launching an attack is to achieve publicity, a cruise ship is a very logical target,"

he said.

"It moves slowly, it has passengers from many countries in the world.

"If a terrorist can take control of a ship as happened back in the 1980s with the Achille
Lauro (hijacked by Palestinian terrorists off the Egyptian coast) it achieves massive
publicity."

AAP jmm/pjo/srp

KEYWORD: TOURISM PIRATES

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Senate starts renewed debate on stimulus package

AAP General News (Australia)
02-13-2009
Fed: Senate starts renewed debate on stimulus package

CANBERRA, Feb 13 AAP - Senators have started a renewed debate on the government's $42
billion economic stimulus package as negotiations behind the scenes aim to overcome a
parliamentary impasse.

The Senate is considering a new package of bills passed by the lower house late on
Thursday night.

At the same time, Treasurer Wayne Swan is trying to convince Independent senator Nick
Xenophon to support the package.

The South Australian senator voted with the coalition to scuttle the government's package
on Thursday.

Opposition Senate leader Nick Minchin warned the government against another round of
filibustering, referring to Thursday's drawn-out debate while Labor and the Greens hammered
out a deal.

Senator Minchin said the government should be talking to the opposition about a different
stimulus package or be held to ransom by the crossbench.

Government Senate leader Chris Evans said the coalition had "dealt themselves out of
the game" when opposing outright the package.

"You declared you would oppose this every step of the way," he told parliament.

The opposition was more interested in playing long-term politics than addressing the
issues of the day, he said.

MORE srj/rl/cdh

KEYWORD: STIMULUS SENATE

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Govt faces fight on condensate in the Senate

AAP General News (Australia)
08-26-2008
Fed: Govt faces fight on condensate in the Senate

The RUDD government is facing yet another fight in the Senate .. as the coalition looks
set to knock back its plans to scrap a condensate tax exemption.

From today .. the government will need to turn to seven balance of power senators ..

unless it has opposition backing to pass laws.

The opposition has already pledged to block the government bill to increase the tax
on ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages .. changes to the Medicare levy surcharge threshold
.. and the commonwealth seniors health card.

Following a shadow ministry meeting yesterday .. coalition MPs and senators are now
expected to support a move to oppose the condensate bill at today's joint party room meeting.

This means the government will have to negotiate with the Australian Greens .. independent
NICK XENOPHON .. and Family First's STEVE FIELDING .. if it wants its legislative program
through the Senate.

AAP RTV so/mfh/ldj/de/wz/psm/

KEYWORD: SENATE (CANBERRA)

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Key recommendations of 2020 summit governance stream

AAP General News (Australia)
04-20-2008
Fed: Key recommendations of 2020 summit governance stream

Key recommendations of the 2020 summit's governance stream:



Ideas:

- An Australian republic

- A charter or bill of rights

- Collaborative governance

- Reforming federation

- Open and transparent government.



Policies:

- A constitutional preamble recognising indigenous Australians

- A national cooperation commission to ensure all levels of government work together

- Automatic enrolment to vote at the age of 18.



AAP mfh/ht/bwl

KEYWORD: SUMMIT GOVERNANCE (FACTBOX)

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Offpeak ferry services to be disrupted today

AAP General News (Australia)
12-17-2007
NSW: Offpeak ferry services to be disrupted today

Some off-peak ferry services will be disrupted today .. to allow Sydney Ferries staff
to attend a meeting on planned changes to the corporation .. following the Walker inquiry.

Sydney Ferries says peak hour services won't be affected .. but says there'll be widespread
service disruptions between 10 o'clock and 11.30am (AEDT) to allow staff to attend the
briefing .. and has apologised for any inconvenience.

BRET WALKER SC handed down his report into Sydney Ferries in October .. recommending
a fleet upgrade and urging the government to look at the partial privatisation of the
service.

The report also criticised the current performance of Sydney Ferries .. saying it was
less than satisfactory and beset by cultural problems.



Meanwhile .. Jetcats will replace ferries on the Manly route .. operating at ferry
prices .. while some Parramatta River services will be cancelled.

Inner-harbour services will be reduced on most routes.

AAP RTV kd/jec/psm/

KEYWORD: FERRIES (SYDNEY)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Push to double first home-buyers' grant

AAP General News (Australia)
08-04-2007
Vic: Push to double first home-buyers' grant

Australia's leading real estate body is reportedly pushing to double the federal first-home
buyers' grant to 14 thousand dollars .. giving people a chance to crack into the booming
property market.

The Real Estate Institute of Australia says it would be the best way to help young
people realise their dream of home ownership.

President GRAHAM JOYCE has told the Nine Network the grant was introduced seven years
ago at seven thousand dollars .. but the property market has since doubled .. and in some
cases tripled .. in price.

Mr JOYCE says the situation's a crisis right across the country.

AAP RTV jat/wf

KEYWORD: GRANT (MELBOURNE)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Kevin Rudd Column

AAP General News (Australia)
02-11-2007
Kevin Rudd Column

EDS: Please note the fortnightly column by federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd will
not run today.

AAP jlw

KEYWORD: RUDD COLUMN ADVISORY

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

SA: Two in court today over bank robberies

AAP General News (Australia)
08-25-2006
SA: Two in court today over bank robberies

ADELAIDE, Aug 25 AAP - Two men dubbed Adelaide's Overall Bandits, believed responsible
for seven armed bank robberies since December, will appear in court today.

The pair, aged 20 and 21, have been charged with seven counts of aggravated armed robbery.

They were arrested yesterday shortly after a robbery on a branch of the National Australia
Bank in the suburb of Unley.

Armed with a shotgun and a rifle, two men threatened a security guard stationed outside
the bank before forcing him inside.

The pair then threatened bank tellers before escaping with a quantity of cash in a
stolen blue Ford Laser sedan.

Less than an hour later, police arrested two men in a silver BMW sedan at a service
station at nearby Highgate.

Police said they would allege money stolen from the bank was found in the BMW.

A third arrest also was possible, they said, with investigations expected to extend interstate.

They were named the Overall Bandits because of the blue overalls worn by the robbers
during the raids.

AAP tjd/it/bwl

KEYWORD: OVERALL DAYLEAD

) 2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Australia is neglecting its border with PNG

AAP General News (Australia)
04-19-2006
Fed: Australia is neglecting its border with PNG

A report says people smuggling is rife in the Torres Strait .. because Australia is
neglecting its border with Papua New Guinea.

It also says law enforcement officials in the area are corrupt.

A Papua New Guinea intelligence service officer told ABC's Lateline last night .. both
Australia and Indonesia are neglecting their borders with his country.

He says it's allowing people to be smuggled to the Australian mainland.

AAP RTV klw/goc/

KEYWORD: PAPUA SMUGGLING (CANBERRA)

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Clergymen facing child sex charges fight extradition to NZ

AAP General News (Australia)
04-11-2005
NSW: Clergymen facing child sex charges fight extradition to NZ

By Kim Arlington

SYDNEY, April 11 AAP - Two Catholic clergymen facing child sex charges might not receive
a fair trial if they were extradited to New Zealand, a Sydney court was told today.

Brother Rodger Maloney, 69, and Father Raymond John Garchow, 59, face a total of 32
charges, and are accused of sexually assaulting students at a Christchurch school for
boys with intellectual and learning disabilities.

The members of the St John of God order allegedly assaulted boys in their care at the
Marylands School in the South Island city between 1966 and 1980.

In February, Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court ordered their extradition to New Zealand.

As they began fighting the order in the Federal Court today, their barrister, Paul
Byrne, SC, said it would be unjust to surrender the men because they might not receive
a fair trial in New Zealand.

Mr Byrne expressed concerns about "the extent to which these allegations have been
publicised in New Zealand, and the atmosphere in which these men would likely be tried".

He said there had been "an orchestrated campaign" encouraging people to come forward
with complaints of sexual abuse, raising questions about whether individual allegations
may have been contaminated.

The accusations may not have been made in good faith, Mr Byrne said, and the New Zealand
justice system allowed evidence to be admitted even when there may have been collusion
or fabrication by the complainants.

The chances of Maloney and Garchow receiving a fair trial also would be "dramatically"

diminished if they were tried on a number of allegations brought by different complainants,
rather than having individual allegations heard separately, Mr Byrne said.

Their trials also might proceed on what is known as a representative charge, which
had been ruled invalid by the High Court of Australia.

Mr Byrne described representative charges as a "scattergun approach" because they did
not specify precisely when an offence allegedly occurred, only that it took place within
a broad time frame.

He also said Maloney's trial might be prejudiced because New Zealand authorities wanted
to try him jointly with a "notorious paedophile", a Marylands brother previously jailed
after pleading guilty to child sex charges.

The lengthy delay in charging the men also presented problems, Mr Byrne told the court.

With the alleged offences taking place up to 39 years ago, medical records were no
longer available and many of the school's staff, including the doctor, had died.

If there was a chance the proceedings might be permanently stayed because Maloney and
Garchow were disadvantaged by the delay, they should not be subjected to the ordeal of
extradition, Mr Byrne said.

"In New Zealand, the odds that a permanent stay will be granted are much higher," he said.

"Courts in New Zealand seem to be more inclined to use the power of permanently staying
proceedings in these cases of historical sexual abuse than courts in Australia do."

The hearing continues tomorrow before Justice Rodney Madgwick.

AAP ka/nf/evt/sp

KEYWORD: BROTHERS NIGHTLEAD

2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

GolfServ Adds iWon and NYPOST.com to Partner Network.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 27, 2000

Both to license GolfServ Online's golf-related online

content and services. New marketing partners include

The Golf Passbook and The Golf Travel Co.

GolfServ Online Inc., provider of syndicated golf-related online content and services, today announced partnerships with iWon, one of the fastest growing sites on the Internet, and NYPOST.com, the online version of the New York Post published by News Corporation Ltd. The company also announced marketing agreements with The Golf Passbook and The GolfTravel Co. to promote their products and services across the more than 250 site strong GolfServ partner network.

iWon and NYPOST.com users can now register for free access to GolfServ's online handicap tracker and golf applications including streaming video instruction from top teaching pros. Members can also get detailed information on accommodations, restaurants, shopping, golf instruction and real estate found near many of the 19,000+ courses in GolfServ's course database, and receive instruction from the Internet's leading panel of golf instructors.

"Both iWon and NYPOST.com are high traffic sites with significant golfing elements," said Kathryn Savarese, president and co-founder of Golfserv Online. "We look forward to working with them to offer their golfers a more compelling online experience. These partnerships further solidify our position as the leading provider of golf content and interactive services on the internet."

Beginning today, GolfServ will also promote new marketing partners The Golf Passbook and The Golf Travel Co. throughout the GolfServ Online partner network. The Golf Passbook, for over 12 years a leading provider of golf savings, now offers significant savings and benefits for both serious and casual golfers at golfpassbook.com. The Golf Travel Co., which owns and operates the e-golftravel.com web site, arranges premier quality international golf tours for U.S. golfers.

About NYPOST.com

NYPOST.COM is one of the leading online news, information and entertainment resources on the web. With over 760,000 unique users in the month of August, NYPOST.COM ranks 7th among all newspaper websites in the nation. It is the online source that users know and trust.

Anchored by the print version of one of the country's fastest-growing and favorite newspapers, NYPOST.COM has generated immense growth. Since its introduction in 1998, page views have grown 600% to over 23 million. The reason for this success is the Post's unique coverage of news and entertainment as well as commentary and one-of-a-kind features. Our famous GOSSIP columns are a primary source for national celebrity developments and have a dedicated following. SPORTS links users to the latest stories and features regular updates of all scores. In addition, users can get daily-featured stories from their favorite sections: BUSINESS, COMMENTARY, EDITORIAL, ENTERTAINMENT, HOROSCOPE, NEWS, REVIEWS, and WEATHER.

No one knows New York like NYPOST.COM.

About iWon.com

Launched only 11 months ago, iWon currently attracts one out of every nine people who visit the Web from work, and one out of every ten people who visit the web from home (Media Metrix, July). iWon is also ranked No. 1 in User Site and Feature Satisfaction among the leading search engines and portal sites (NPD Search and Portal Tracking Study). iWon provides users with world-class content and functionality from leading partners such as Associated Press, CBS, Inktomi, CBS MarketWatch, Reuters, Standard & Poor's Comstock, TheStreet.com, Travelocity, and WeatherNews Inc.

As an added incentive, iWon gives away to users $10,000 every day, 30 prizes of $1,000 every week, $1 million every month and $10 million on Tax Day. By simply using the site to search the Web, check email, go shopping, read the news, or perform other regular Internet activities, iWon users earn entries with practically every click. Through the 3-tiered "Refer-A-Friend" program, iWon users will also earn cash prizes, up to $1 million, if someone in their referral network wins a Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Annual prize. To date iWon has given away more than $26 million in cash prizes.

About GolfServ Online Inc.

GolfServ helps Web sites attract golfers and keep them returning frequently. By providing a network of 250 leading sites with personalized, fully branded golf content and services, GolfServ enables web sites to enhance advertising, sponsorship and electronic commerce opportunities in an extremely sought-after demographic market -- golfers. GolfServ's core product empowers golfers to track their handicap and playing performance, schedule tee-times online, find detailed information on over 19,000 golf courses worldwide, obtain private lessons from the world's leading golf authorities and much more.