THE FRONT PAGES
POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
Australia
Leadership
Malcolm Turnbull wins ETS backing – Malcolm Turnbull has won backing for an Opposition version of the ETS he said would produce fewer job losses and have lower electricity price rises than the Government’s legislation – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Climate showdown kind of boring, MP says – The West Australian
Turnbull cleared for ETS talks – Malcolm Turnbull has delayed a likely leadership showdown with the Coalition’s right wing by winning its approval to seek to amend Kevin Rudd’s planned emissions trading scheme – The Australian
Nats warn Turnbull they can’t back ETS – The Nationals have vowed to vote against an emissions trading scheme in the Senate despite the agreement to negotiate with Labor – The Australian
Business wish-list covers all Coalition bases – The Coalition has passed a business wish-list of amendments to Kevin Rudd’s emissions trading scheme that the government is extremely unlikely to agree to in its entirety, but which could form the basis for a deal – The Australian
Turnbull wins first round on ETS – Sydney Morning Herald
Immigration
PM heads to Jakarta over asylum seekers – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will leave for Jakarta on Monday, where he will seek a solution to stem the influx of asylum seekers into Australian waters. The issue is shaping up as a test for the government, which has adopted a more compassionate border protection policy than its predecessors but is trying to portray a tougher image on the issue – The West Australian
270 more refugees located in two boats, more illegal boats on way – A naval patrol boat last night intercepted the latest boat carrying 39 suspected asylum seekers in Australian waters just 24km north west of Ashmore Reef – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Hostel in jobs furore, claims over foreign labour – A labour hire company is using a backpacker hostel in Cronulla as a way to tap into cheaper foreign workers. Unions have questioned the impact its practices had on Australian jobs – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Smuggler found on asylum boat – Sri Lankan asylum-seekers last night continued their stand-off, refusing to leave their boat in Indonesia as it was confirmed that a key people-smuggler responsible for the journey had been arrested – The Australian
People smuggler snared – A people-smuggling kingpin has been detained in Indonesia in a breakthrough in efforts to disrupt the latest wave of asylum seekers coming to Australia – Sydney Morning Herald
More boats bound for Australia – Urgent talks were under way last night between Canberra and Jakarta over responsibility for a suspected Australia-bound asylum-seeker vessel carrying 79 passengers that had issued a distress message off the Indonesian island of Sumatra – The Australian
Jakarta alliance hit by both sides – Moves by the Rudd government to use Indonesia as a bulwark against Australia-bound asylum-seekers came under fire yesterday from the polar opposites of the Coalition and refugee advocates – The Australian
Fourth Sri Lankan returned to Colombo – A fourth failed Sri Lankan asylum-seeker has been forced home by the Rudd government after the failure of his last-ditch appeal to the United Nations. Roshan Fernando was deported to Colombo on Saturday after the Department of Immigration was told the UN’s High Commission for Human Rights would not investigate his case – The Australian
Canberra set to issue marching orders – The Rudd government is preparing to send home more asylum-seekers from Christmas Island’s immigration detention centre after refusing to allow an Iranian man and a group of Sinhalese Sri Lankans to ask for protection on the Australian mainland – The Australian
Criminal laws
Bikie gang laws ‘sound and legal’ – The Territory Government is confident its bikie gang laws won’t be struck down after they pass through parliament – Northern Territory News
Economic matters
Market bets on rates threepeat – Financial markets are betting the Reserve Bank will raise interest rates at each of its next three meetings, with the key interbank rate that tracks the cost of short-term borrowing jumping to an eight-month high – Sydney Morning Herald
Queensland at risk of double-dip recession: Access Economics – Brisbane Courier Mail
Aboriginal affairs
Aboriginal jobs ‘stifled’ by legislation – Restructuring the lives of Aboriginal people away from welfare dependency was more than just ensuring children attended school, but was dependent on their getting real employment and the ability to own their own homes, Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson said yesterday – The Australian
Property development
Minister’s unlawful act scuppers 7200 homes – The state’s biggest housing project has collapsed after the Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally, admitted she acted unlawfully in approving the 7200-home Hunter Valley proposal – Sydney Morning Herald
Industrial relations
Jobs watchdog takes union to court for strike – Unions are being targeted by the nation’s workplace watchdog, with 20 investigations being conducted into allegations of unlawful industrial action by workers – The Australian
Transport
Stuck in traffic with no-hopers, Nathan Rees abandons Sydneys congested roads – The Rees Government has abandoned Sydney’s 4.7 million motorists by admitting it does not have a single plan to fix the city’s most congested roads – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Opinions
Celebrity banker at odds with his employer – Malcolm Farr in the Sydney Daily Telegraph explains how the era of the celebrity central banker is causing new problems for the Government as it struggles to be the sole authority on the economy.
Wong’s ETS unites foes on Left, Right – Glenn Milne in The Australian writes how Greens and Nationals are both opposed to the scheme and new evidence supports their cause.
Leader puts his judgment on the line – Malcolm Turnbull has won the battle. He’s yet to decide how to fight the war, writes Lenore Taylor in The Australian
Rudd buys off business on carbon trading – Ross Gittins in the Sydney Morning Herald suspects Kevin Rudd is indeed a man who can’t be trusted with the purse strings. A man too keen on making himself popular by giving away our money to powerful interest groups.
A bloody mob of hypocrites – Paul Sheehan in the Sydney Morning Herald describes how Australians (including himself) express outrage about the whales and the dolphins, but when it comes to hypocrisy about animal cruelty, we are world class. We hunt, slaughter and brutalise our national symbol while lauding, exploiting and symbolising it at the same time. Similarly, we don’t expend much curiosity about the abject conditions in the factory farms that produce our pork and poultry.
Major parties are polluting the climate change message – Global warming is not amenable to political compromises writes Kenneth Davidson in the Melbourne Age
Elsewhere
Pakistan and Afghanistan
No quick escape despite exit strategy – Jo Chandler reports for the Melbourne Age on Australian troops in Afghanistan
Taliban resists major assault by Pakistan – The Australian
Economic matters
Tax raid on banks planned by ministers – Ministers are drawing up plans for a tax raid on Britain’s banks worth hundreds of millions of pounds – The radical move, being considered as a way of forcing banks to pay a price for the taxpayer-funded bail-out of the financial system, could include a one-off “windfall” tax on profits. Banks could also be forced to pay more corporation tax by curbing the system that allows them to offset their losses against tax over a number of years –The London Sunday Telegraph
BUSINESS
US raids insider-trading gang – A top US watchdog has warned financial firms they face increased scrutiny after a billionaire appeared in court on Friday charged with one of biggest hedge fund insider trading case in US history – The Australian
Woolworths in ACCC’s sights over Danks takeover – Sydney Morning Herald
MEDIA
Nine sacks five as plan fails to outsource bureau – After a plan to save $2 million by outsourcing its Canberra bureau to Sky News fell over, Nine has moved to cut costs by sacking five producers – The Australian
Chief’s talk of ‘free content’ on ABC is inaccurate – Richard Freudenstein, the chief executive officer, News Digital Media, part of News Corporation, responds to ABC managing director Mark Scott’s views expressed in his A.N.Smith Memorial Lecture last week – The Australian
TV’s sports laws ‘ripe for change’ – Michael Lee, the former Keating government communications minister who helped create the anti-siphoning regime governing sports-watching in Australia, has hinted that reforms should be made, thanks to technological changes over the past decade – The Australian
ENVIRONMENT
LIFE
Families
Shared parenting laws on way out – The Rudd government is planning to roll back the controversial shared parenting law passed in the final term of the Howard government, enraging men’s groups, which say the laws have finally given them access to their children after separation – The Australian
Law and order
Kids now sex predators – Children are committing sexual assaults in alarming numbers, with five times more attacks last year than there were five years ago – Sydney Daily Telegraph
How I would deal with Gang of 49 – Aboriginal community leader Klynton Wanganeen has formulated a detailed plan to address the latest crime wave by the so-called Gang of 49 – Adelaide Advertiser
Legal challenge brewing over Holy Communion row – The Sydney Anglican Archbishop, Peter Jensen, is facing a legal challenge over his church’s decision to break with the national church and permit apprentice ministers to give Holy Communion. The highest court of the Australian Anglican Church, the Appellate Tribunal, has been convened to decide on the contentious issue of whether church law allows deacons or church workers to preside over the Lord’s Supper, a duty exclusively performed by ordained priests and bishops – Sydney Morning Herald
Health
GP visit will cost you $30 in fee hike – Patients will be hit with a $30 bill to see a non-bulk billing doctor from next month because the Medicare rebate failed to keep up with inflation – Sydney Daily Telegraph
More Australians take sickies as financial crisis bites – The global financial crisis has caused a jump in the number of days Australians take as sickies, with the biggest impact on bank and finance employees – Brisbane Courier Mail
In the wash-up, doctors forget about hygiene – Doctors are by far the worst health workers when it comes to washing their hands, with fewer than half managing to do so despite knowing its importance in reducing infection rates, a survey of public hospitals has found – Sydney Morning Herald
The drink
Drunks illegally served booze – Police have uncovered only a handful of cases of drunk people being served alcohol – in an entire decade – despite the state’s booze-fuelled havoc. Anti-binge drinking advocates have lashed out at police for nor not bothering to properly enforce the law – Melbourne Herald Sun
Campaigners take shot at booze-inspired toys – Booze-inspired toys encouraging binge drinking have been slammed by alcohol safety campaigners ahead of schoolies week. The popularity during the party season of gadgets such as beer bongs and guns that shoot liquor has sparked calls for a national review into where alcohol-related paraphernalia is sold – Melbourne Herald Sun
The drugs
Drug barons recruit younger users – Cheap illegal drugs bought at a fraction of the cost of nightclub alcohol are luring teenage partygoers into the dangers of substance abuse, experts warn – Adelaide Advertiser
When love is found in a pill – The pusher: Ecstasy dealer Elijah is not worried about what happens to hiscustomers. An enthusiastic salesman, he sings his products’ praises – Adelaide Advertiser
Experimentation leads to permanent effects – The user: Justin seems like an ordinary 20-year-old.He went to a respectable school, holds down a good job and has plenty of friends. But he also is a recreational drug user and says years of messing with drugs have taken their toll on him – Adelaide Advertiser
The venues: Want a fix? You don’t have to look far – Nightspots and festivals are hotspots for illegal drug use – Adelaide Advertiser
Drugs, drunks on a night of dirty deals – Ben Harvy takes Adelaide Advertiser readers on a night out in the drug scene.
Gambling
Premier League fears corruption after 188bet and SBObet offers betting on teenagers – Two gambling firms which sponsor Premier League clubs have been condemned for offering live betting on academy games, with fears that it puts teenagers – some as young as 14 – at risk of corruption – London Sunday Telegraph
Sporting behaviour
Clean up your act – Victorian sporting clubs will be forced to control rogue players and spectators or risk losing millions of dollars in funding. The State Government will this week tell clubs and associations of the tough new plan amid escalating concern at violence and abuse in community sport – Melbourne Herald Sun
Education
Hunt for better teachers – A new State Government taskforce has been charged with lifting teacher quality and addressing shortages in the education workforce. Comprising representatives from the public, independent and Catholic school sectors and Adelaide’s three public universities, the taskforce is chaired by education department chief executive officer Chris Robinson – Adelaide Advertiser
Skate boarders
Skate expectations as city boarders look for a new place to roll – Tonight a City of Sydney committee will consider a proposal for a purpose-built facility at the Western Distributor underpass near Wynyard, a plan that has lifted the hopes of skaters such as Alon Settinger, 20 – Sydney Morning Herald
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