PRESS DIGEST-Australian General News - Feb 9

Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)

Marius Kloppers, chief executive of global miner BHP Billiton, yesterday said the company was wary about the short-term outlook following a reduction in global demand and a drop in commodity prices borne out of the volatility caused by the European debt crisis.

BHP announced a 5.5 percent drop in half-year profit to A$9.1 billion, with Mr Kloppers adding that the company would "continue to invest through the cycle". Page 1.

-- John Morschel, chairman of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, yesterday urged policymakers to stop spreading false information about the banking industry ahead of the lender's decision on whether to raise interest rates out of step of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

"I wish the politicians would get their facts straight before they start making public statements," Mr Morschel said. Page 1.

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The Federal Opposition came under fire in Parliament yesterday from the Federal Government over its conflicting statements on whether the Coalition would return the budget to surplus in its first term.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott yesterday said the Coalition would "get back to surplus as quickly as possible". The remark that followed moves by opposition frontbenchers to back away from a pledge by shadow treasurer Joe Hockey to post regular surpluses of 1 percent of gross domestic product, approximately A$15 billion, if elected. Page 1.

-- Shareholders in Ausdrill were not told that the company's managing director, Ron Sayers, had been charged with defrauding the Commonwealth until more than seven weeks after the charges were laid.

The mining services firm revealed the charges last week after Mr Sayers and Peter Bartlett, founder of industry peer Barminco and a long-time supporter of Ausdrill, pleaded not guilty. Shares in Ausdrill fell heavily yesterday, although the firm managed to regain most of the lost ground by the end of trading. Page 3.

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THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)

Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday declared that her priority was to run Australia's economy "in the interest of working people", adding that the Federal Opposition's Tony Abbott wanted to "chuck overboard" jobs in local manufacturing.

The claim came as 600 jobs at aluminium producer Alcoa's smelter in Geelong, Victoria, were thrown into doubt after the company announced a review into the viability of the plant. Page 1.

-- Federal Manufacturing Minister Kim Carr yesterday criticised the GetUp! political activist organisation by warning that its campaign against the country's multi-billion-dollar furniture industry could result in a severe level of job cuts.

The left-wing group's advertisements, produced in conjunction with the Markets for Change environmental lobby, attack retailer Harvey Norman over its use of Australian native timber products by claiming the company and the sector is threatening wildlife and contributing to global warming. Page 1.

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Cesar Melhem, Victorian state secretary of the Australian Workers Union, yesterday said there was a strong argument in favour of providing federal and state support to prevent aluminium producer Alcoa's plant in Geelong, Victoria, from shutting down.

"It is an ageing plant but it had been making money until six or seven months ago  it is a matter of weathering the storm," Mr Melhem added. Page 1.

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Jacques Nasser, former chief executive of Ford, yesterday publicly backed taxpayer assistance for local car manufacturers but insisted that any support should be linked to appropriate goals, including a boost to productivity.

"I'm a qualified supporter, a strong supporter for the moment  but I'm not for unqualified, indefinite support," Mr Nasser said. Page 1.

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)

A British newspaper yesterday revealed that Australia was an "integral" part of the potentially illegal withholding of prisoners of war at a secret desert prison in Iraq nine years ago.

The Guardian reported that Australia's military may have handed over detainees to the H1 "black site", secret prisons that became public following the Abu Ghraib scandal in 2003, which could result in Australian defence personnel being complicit in war crimes.

The report is the first time Australia has been linked with any incidents of this nature. Page 1.

-- It was revealed yesterday that the death of Tamati Grant, who was hit by a train at Kogarah Station in New South Wales in 2010, could have been avoided if it was not for a series of errors and breaches of protocol by RailCorp staff.

According to a report published this week by the state's Office of Transport Safety Investigation, Mr Grant was part of a team that was cleaning the tracks when a signaller at RailCorp's centre in nearby Sydenham misled the group of men to believe it was safe to begin work. A coronial inquest is ongoing. Page 1.

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Child protection officers in the United States have taken a gay couple's six-year-old son into custody while United States and Australian authorities conduct an investigation into the pair's alleged participation in an international paedophile ring.

According to a report filed by police in Los Angeles, the area's Department of Children and Family Services has a video that allegedly shows the son "watching a film of pornography with another child and speaking in an explicit sexual manner". The men's Queensland home has also been searched. Page 1.

-- Staff at The Star casino in New South Wales have been ordered by management to not talk about the company on social media or to talk to the press as it tries to handle the fallout from the firing of former managing director Sid Vaikunta.

Murray McCall, acting managing director of the casino, e-mailed staff saying they should "not spread rumours or gossip". Mr Vaikunta was sacked after "his behaviour in a social work setting" last week, which is understood to be referring to allegations of sexual harassment. Page 3.

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THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)

Internal documents from Victoria Police uncovered yesterday have revealed that the most covert unit within the state's police watchdog functioned with "limited accountability", was slow to act on internal misconduct and had "little governance".

According to statements sworn by several workers in the Office of Police Integrity two years ago, claims have been levelled against the secretive division for falsifying surveillance logs and bullying of a whistleblower who reported misconduct within the unit. Page 1.

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Australian baseball player Daniel McGrath has earned a A$400,000 sign-on bonus after he agreed to leave the Melbourne Aces for the Boston Red Sox on a seven-year contract.

"It's always been a dream of mine to play major leagues for the Boston Red Sox," Mr McGrath said, who used to watch games at Fenway Park in the United States with his mother.

The left-handed pitcher's salary is believed to be the fifth-largest amount paid to any of the 435 Australians that play professional baseball in the United States. Page 1.

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David Davis, Victorian Minister for Health, yesterday said the state government was taking threats of mass resignations from thousands of nurses "very seriously".

Lisa Fitzpatrick, state secretary of the Australian Nursing Federation, yesterday confirmed that thousands of letters from nurses granting her the power to resign on their behalf had been mailed to the union.

"There is obviously a very significant number of nurses that are considering their future permanent employment in the public sector," Ms Fitzpatrick said. Page 3.

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The assistant state secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, John Setka, and former union official Matt Hudson, has been fined A$750 and A$500 respectively after major criminal charges against the pair fell apart.

The pair were facing 15 charges following an incident on a building site in Carlton, Victoria, three years ago, but 13 of the charges were dropped after the evidence of inspectors from the Australian Building and Construction Commission was called into question. Page 3.

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