PRESS DIGEST-Australian General News - Feb 20

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)

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has reportedly met with business leaders in an attempt to mend bridges, with sources saying that momentum is moving towards a contest with Prime Minister Julia Gillard for the leadership of the party. Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie said yesterday that Kevin Rudd demonstrated leadership aspirations as far back as November but observers believe he currently lacks the numbers to mount a serious challenge. Page 1.

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The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has retaliated to company bosses and business groups that have criticised Labor's industrial relations laws. In a submission by the ACTU to the federal government's review of the Fair Work Act, the existing structure received firm support. "Employer criticism of the Fair Work Act is barely disguised lust for a return to a Work Choices system. Employers and their fellow travellers in the Liberal Party need to stop living in the past," secretary of the ACTU, Jeff Lawrence, said yesterday. Page 1.

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Following last week's arrest of five journalists from The Sun newspaper, a major United States shareholder in News Limited has announced that Rupert Murdoch can not continue to ignore demands for change. "The arrests definitely escalate the pressure to make changes  the problem is spreading  they've not isolated it as they thought they had," Anne Sheehan, head of corporate governance at the California State Teachers' Retirement System, said. Page 3.

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Homeowner Kurt Opray has successfully achieved a sale of his own home at A$135,000 above its reserve price thanks to social networking. Mr Opray used Twitter and Facebook to create interest in the sale of the Northcote house in Melbourne by using his unique position as the homeowner to run the social media campaign. "I know my house better than any agent. Who better to sell the house than me?" Mr Opray said. Page 3.

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

Fee increases of up to 131 percent could force mass departures from Catholic primary and secondary schools, modelling by the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria has revealed. The findings come amid concerns the federal government will reduce its funding following the release of its Gonski review today. The potential reduction in funding levels has sparked concern lower socio-economic students could be compelled to leave. Page 1.

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Prime Minister Julia Gillard is being urged by party members to end the leadership speculation before the March 24 state election in Queensland, with the speculation over Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd possibly regaining the top job damaging the Labor brand with voters. After weeks of dismissing the issue, sections of Labor's Right are pushing to have a caucus ballot called because they believe Gillard has the numbers to win and therefore end the constant wrangling. "I don't care how they resolve it, I just want it resolved," Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said. Page 1.

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The A$60 billion coal seam gas (CSG) industry received the support of only a third of respondents in a Newspoll survey, with two-thirds either undecided or against CSG development. In what is the heartland of the industry, Queensland, this comes as a significant blow and with campaigning under way for the March 24 election, whichever party wins will have an uphill battle to rebuild public support for CSG. Page 1.

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Pharmacists have informed the federal government that a definition of essential medicines needs to be put in place because hospitals are regularly running out of critical drugs. "I think there's a role for the Department of Health, the Therapeutic Goods Administration and others to play in drawing up a list of emergency and life-saving drugs, and how to protect ourselves from these sort of problems," president of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia, Sue Kirsa, said yesterday. Page 3.

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

Text messages are being sent to the mobile phones of customers by insurance companies hoping to save millions of dollars in storm damage to cars. "Obviously, the warning helps the company reduce claims, which is fair enough. But it also helps me, by saving me from a lot of hassle, time and money involved in putting the car in for repairs," said Budget Direct customer Craig West, who benefited from the "hail automated notification system" employed by Budget. Page 1.

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The cost of educating a child in line with a national standard will be assigned a financial benchmark under recommendations contained in the Gonski report into school funding that will be released today. The report states a base payment would be increased according to socio-economic backgrounds and the capacity of parents to pay fees. Indigenous students and students with low English skills would also benefit under the plan, as well as those situated in remote areas. "Australia lacks a logical, consistent and publicly transparent approach to funding schooling," the report stated. Page 2.

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A leaked briefing note acquired by the New South Wales Greens Party has revealed that bureaucrats tasked with the relocation of the Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre to Port Stephens were urged to split a major project into several smaller ones in order to avoid the need to submit a business case to Treasury. "It is proposed to resubmit [the proposal] to Treasury as a program of minor works which will not require the preparation of formal business cases as well as economic and financial appraisals," manager for asset strategy at the department of trade and investment, Peter Lawrence, said. Page 3.

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A campaign by animal lobby group Voiceless is hoping to change the way pigs and chickens are raised on Australian factory farms. Currently Australian farms hold these animals in conditions of a far lower standard than Europe, where laws passed over the last decade are among the most stringent on animal cruelty. "If I treated a dog the way pigs and chickens are treated on these farms, I'd likely be prosecuted," said Australian actor Hugo Weaving, one of the faces of the campaign, on a television advertisement. Page 3.

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THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)

The Supreme Court, County Court and Magistrates Court in Victoria have called for extra funding to fix a justice edifice that they perceive as dilapidated and stressed. With the justice system struggling under the weight of an increased case-load and more complex and sensitive cases, judges have called for court buildings to be updated and for more judges to tackle the extra workload. "Government's there to pass laws, that's what they get elected to do. they rarely look at giving the court an extra resource. And that's my complaint," Chief Judge of the County Court, Michael Rozenes, said. Page 1.

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An annual port tax of A$75 million imposed by the Victorian state government has potentially breached the constitution, the Tasmanian Labor government said yesterday. Tasmanian Infrastructure Minister David O'Byrne contacted Victorian Ports Minister Denis Napthine and stated that Tasmania had no option but to use the container port in Melbourne and that was monopolistic. "[It's a] Victorian tax that will be met to a large extent by the Tasmanian community," Mr O'Byrne said. Page 2.

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A science experiment conducted by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) will look to utilise tonnes of rubbish clogging the nation's coastline and measure its affect on the marine population. The plan by the CSIRO will cover 35,000 kilometres of coastline and study the role currents and tides played in the transportation of rubbish. "No matter how remote it is, we've not been to a single beach without debris," head of the marine debris project, Dr Britta Denise Hardesty, said. Page 2.

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A survey of over one thousand Australians has found that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's iView catch-up video service was poised to overtake illegal file-sharing sites as the most popular source of downloads and video-on-demand content. The TV & Video 2011 Consumer Trends report from telecommunications company Ericsson showed iView had 32 percent of respondents using the service with 33 percent admitting to downloading illegal content. "We're not a bunch of thieves by nature  there's latent demand there," Kursten Leins of Ericsson said. Page 3.

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