HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 1530 AEDT, Dec 9

AAP General News (Australia)
12-09-1999
HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 1530 AEDT, Dec 9

CANBERRA - Unemployment is at its lowest level in nearly a decade, with the jobless
rate plunging to 6.7 per cent in November.



SYDNEY - Olympic host broadcaster the Seven Network has cancelled all advertising with
SOCOG in a dispute over its sponsorhip of the Games. (Oly Seven. See also Oly Reebok.



CANBERRA - The GST's impact on charities had been exaggerated and misrepresented, Prime
Minister John Howard said today.



CANBERRA - Boat people being held in Australian detention centres had demanded satellite
television and Internet access, Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said today.



SYDNEY - The northern New South Wales town of Guyra is abuzz with rumours after an
unidentified object crashed into the local dam.



CANBERRA - The casino industry can thank small-time punters playing the pokies rather
than big-spending high-rollers for its record profit last year.



CANBERRA - Coalition senators today voted against an amendment which would stop the
shadowy Greenfields Foundation, one of the Liberal Party's major contributors, from enjoying
a charity tax break.



CANBERRA - The National Party today accused the Australian Democrats of wrongly using
parliament to promote gay and lesbian issues, arguing it was against community sentiment.



SYDNEY - Beverages group CC-Amatil Ltd today announced a restructuring of its Philippines
operations to result in an abnormal charge of about $70 million after tax in 1999.



SYDNEY - South Sydney president George Piggins vowed to continue his club's fight to
be included in the National Rugby League competition after suffering defeat in the federal
court here today.



SYDNEY - Australians are earning multiple millions a year from sport - but not in their
own backyard.



CANBERRA - Timor Gap oil is likely to provide only a few million dollars a year for
the new and destitute nation of East Timor, a parliamentary committee was told today.



CANBERRA - Any move to introduce a whole of government number to be quoted with any
dealing eith the federal government would be an unwelcome intrusion in personal privacy,
federal privacy commissioner Malcolm Crompton warned today.



CANBERRA - Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith today blamed the States for dragging
the chain on setting up a national employees' entitlements scheme.



CANBERRA - The investigation of a complaint that an elderly man had been forced to
sell his home for a nursing home bed had been too slow, the man's lawyer said today.



CANBERRA - Free-to-air broadcasters with exclusive rights to live events must put them
to air under anti-hoarding legislation passed by parliament today.



SYDNEY - Hundreds of pubs across New South Wales will shut down on New Year's Eve because
of spiralling staff, security and entertainment costs.



SYDNEY - A magistrate today apologised for sentencing a former police officer to periodic
detention for attempting to supply cocaine.



SYDNEY - A man who went on a wild spending spree after his bank teller fiance stole
almost half a million dollars today had his aiding and abetting conviction quashed.



SYDNEY - Insurance company QBE Mercantile Mutual today sacked 83 staff just two weeks
before Christmas, the Finance Sector Union (FSU) said.



MELBOURNE - Parents will be allowed to donate blood to their children under sweeping
changes to Victoria's donation system.



MELBOURNE - Victorian Opposition Leader Denis Napthine was today accused of being anti-Catholic
and anti-Christian for querying the CV of Labor's Burwood by-election candidate.



MELBOURNE - Australia's Davis Cup tennis team were today slammed for their drunken
celebrations in France and warned they give poor example for young people.



MELBOURNE - In a case of unrequited love, a man hid in his ex-girfriend's garage for
three days before kidnapping her at knife point, a court heard today.



MELBOURNE - Arabian and quarter horse racing will be allowed in Australia under a trial
by the Victorian government.



BRISBANE - Queensland's corruption watchdog today announced a review of police strip
search procedures after more than 50 complaints were filed this year.



BRISBANE - Queensland police should be given phone tapping powers to help fight organised
crime, paedophilia and corruption, a powerful parliamentary committee has recommended.



BRISBANE - Queensland Premier Peter Beattie has blasted the federal government's refusal
to commit $100 million to compensate farmers for tree clearing restrictions on freehold
land.



BRISBANE - Sixty per cent of Queensland law firms will sack staff under proposed changes
to the legal profession, according to law society research.



BRISBANE - A young boy wanting to surprise his mother with hand-made candles for Christmas
nearly burned down the family home in Brisbane this morning.



ADELAIDE - Towns in South Australia's mid-north began cleaning up today after a storm
which flattened power poles, destroyed crops and tore roofs off buildings.



ADELAIDE - With a looming blowout in the number of women suffering bone fractures from
osteoporosis in Asia, researchers are studying the effects of a drug to treat the condition
on women of Asian parentage.



ADELAIDE - Two men who climbed a crane at the Hindmarsh Island bridge construction
site were arrested last night after spending the day perched 30 metres above the water
as a protest against the project.



PERTH - Fremantle detectives are investigating claims three East Timorese youths were
sexually assaulted while staying at the Leeuwin safe haven in East Fremantle, police said
today.



AAP

KEYWORD: HIGHLIGHTS NATIONAL

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