PRESS DIGEST-Australian General News - May 14
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)
Federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has questioned the Rudd government's assertion that the economy will grow by 4.5 percent in fiscal 2012 and 2013. Treasurer Wayne Swan has used the growth forecasts, which have been based on previous modelling following a recession, to justify the Government's pledge to increase spending if the recession worsens. However, Mr Turnbull yesterday described such a "dramatic and sustained turnaround [in the economy]" as "highly unlikely." Page 1.
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Some of Australia's largest companies are considering freezing their employee share schemes following changes by the Rudd government to the way share schemes are taxed. Conglomerate Wesfarmers (WES.AX) and essential services provider United Group (UGL.AX) yesterday said they would freeze or scrap their planned employee share schemes after the Government announced on Tuesday that they would tax employees upfront when granted shares or options by their employer. Page 1.
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Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has agreed to allow financier Ford Credit to access up to A$550 million from the Government's OzCar fund in order to bridge a shortfall in automotive finance funding. Mr Swan yesterday warned that "thousands of Australian jobs in the automotive industry' were at risk unless the Senate passed the changes to the legislation. OzCar was launched last year after finance lenders GE Money and GMAC announced their withdrawal from the Australian market. Page 3.
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The future of the Rudd government's proposed Australian Business Investment Partnership (ABIP) remains uncertain, with the necessary support of independent senators yet to be finalised. The Greens, independent senator Nick Xenophon and Family First senator Steve Fielding have yet to back the A$26 billion commercial property guarantee, while the Opposition has already signalled it will vote against it. Senator Xenophon says he is "concerned what this [bill] means for taxpayers.' Page 4.
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THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)
The Federal Government has reaped A$393 million in tax revenue from beer and spirits in addition to the A$424 million it gained in alcopops taxes following yesterday's Senate approval of the troubled alcopops' bill. However, a second alcopops bill that would retain the 70 percent tax hike indefinitely was rejected, with claims from the Opposition and independent senators that consumers have merely switched from one type of alcoholic beverage to another. "The alcopops tax is a dud,' said Family First Senator Steve Fielding. Page 1.
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Collapsed childcare operator ABC Learning Centres director Larry Anthony, a former federal minister who oversaw the Howard government's free-market approach to child-care, yesterday stepped down from his role. "There was nothing more I could contribute,' Mr Anthony said. Mr Anthony's resignation comes as fifteen childcare centres owned by ABC Learning are due to close tomorrow. Receivers McGrathNicol and PPB have found 213 buyers for 241 centres deemed "unviable,' with the remainder to shutdown by tomorrow's deadline for their sale. Page 2.
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Australian television and radio personality Rex Hunt has been found guilty of recklessly causing injury after attacking a cyclist in a road rage incident, leaving the man with a broken finger. Mr Hunt, 60, was yesterday sentenced to 100 hours unpaid community service, with magistrate Peter Reardon saying Hunt had "let down your wife, your family, your friends, your legion of fans and most of all yourself.' Hunt said that he felt "a great responsibility' to his supporters. Page 2.
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Holocaust denier Fredrick Toben has been given a three month jail sentence for contempt of court after he continued to publish offensive material about Jews on the internet against court orders. Toben, 64, said yesterday that he would appeal the decision, but maintained that he was "quite prepared to sacrifice my physical comforts for the sake of free expression.' Judge Bruce Lander declared on sentencing that Toben "has no respect for this court or the authority of this court.' Page 4.
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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)
An American man is to face the Queensland Supreme Court on murder charges following allegations he killed his newly wed wife on a diving trip on the Great Barrier Reef. David Gabriel Watson, 32, returned to Queensland yesterday to face charges that he killed Tina Watson, 26, on their honeymoon by turning off her air supply during a recreational dive. Coroner David Watson said there was evidence of "sufficient reliability' to convict Mr Gabriel of murder. Page 2.
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A report by the New South Wales (NSW) Auditor-General, Peter Achterstraat, says that the NSW Government has failed to address the high proportion of trucks involved in fatal crashes on the state's roads. Government figures show that 22 percent of vehicles involved in fatal road accidents are trucks, despite heavy vehicles making up only 2 percent of the total number of vehicles on the road. Mr Achterstraat says that the introduction of the Safe-T-Cam system of speed cameras, which can differentiate between cars and trucks, should be installed as soon as possible. Page 2.
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A pathologist has told an inquest into the death of a woman who fell off a cliff in the Blue Mountains, in New South Wales, that her injuries did not show any signs of a physical altercation. Sarah Rawson died while picnicking with her companion Shawn Mullen in 2006. Dr Peter Ellis said yesterday that her injuries were consistent with falling down "rough terrain,' and concluded that Ms Rawson's blood alcohol content of 0.15 made her "extremely' drunk at the time. Page 3.
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The Department of Defence has launched a second inquiry into the "training and leadership' of Australian troops deployed in Afghanistan. The inquiry, to be headed by retired vice-admiral Christopher Ritchie, follows concerns raised by an initial inquiry into the death of Australian soldier Michael Fussell who stepped on a roadside bomb in Afghanistan last November. Defence maintains that the inquiry will not further investigate the direct cause of Lieutenant Fussell's death. Page 5.
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THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)
The Federal Government's cap on Medicare safety net fees will force women to pay an extra A$550 to give birth in the private system, according to health experts. The changes to the safety net cap, introduced in the federal budget on Tuesday, will also mean infertile couples could pay up to A$2000 extra for IVF treatments. However, Dr Andrew Pesce, of the National Association of Specialist Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, says that the extra expenses may force women "back to the public hospital system.' Page 1
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The Federal Government has signalled it may consider raising the age at which Australians can access superannuation saving to 67. The move follows Tuesday's announcement of a rise in pension age to 67. A review by Treasury Secretary Ken Henry has called on the phased lifting of the superannuation age from the current level of 60 to 67 from 2024, in an effort to keep Australians at work longer. However, Charmaine Crowe, of the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association, says the move would force some elderly people onto unemployment benefits. Page 1.
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Matthew Johns, a former National Rugby League (NRL) player and host of broadcaster Channel Nine's Sydney Footy Show, yesterday denied sexual abuse claims, but admits he was guilty off "infidelity' and "stupidity.' Johns has been stood down from both Channel Nine and NRL club Melbourne Storm, where he was an assistant coach, after allegations surfaced this week that he was involved in group sex with a 19-year-old girl in 2006. Johns said that the sex was consensual but that he was "very sorry for the subsequent pain.' Page 3.
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A judge has criticised the actions of two police officers who left an intellectually impaired Aboriginal man by the highway in the middle of the night, shortly before he committed suicide. Paul Carter, 33, died when he threw himself under a truck on the Stuart Highway near Mildura, in Victoria. Judge Jennifer Coate said yesterday that Senior Constable Nigel Hoyle and Constable Steve Ritchie "left Paul in inherently dangerous circumstances which should have been apparent to them.' Page 3. --
