PRESS DIGEST-Australian General News - Nov 12

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)

--The Rees Government in New South Wales (NSW) has announced an additional A$3.6 billion in taxes, and spending cuts totalling A$3.3 billion over the next four years. The measures, unveiled as part of the mini-budget presented by Treasurer Eric Roozendaal yesterday, are aimed at dealing with declining revenues caused by the global economic crisis. Mr Roozendaal, who produced a A$917 million deficit with the mini-budget, also lowered the state's growth forecasts to just 1.25 percent this year. Page 1.

--Australia and New Zealand ANZ.AX (ANZ) Banking Group chairman Charles Goode will not seek re-election at the annual general meeting next month, and will be replaced by an external candidate in the next 12 to 14 months. It is understood the ANZ board has already selected a replacement for Mr Goode, who has been in the position since 1995. Mr Goode has been under pressure since ANZ was hit with problems including losses in non-customer related trading divisions and the Opes Prime fiasco. Page 1.

--Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has invited expressions of interest for collapsed childcare centre operator ABC Learning Centres ABS.AX. Ms Gillard on Monday approved a process to look into the viability of each of the 1040 centres in order to "create opportunities for not-for-profit and for-profit entities to operate local childcare centres." Not-for-profit organisations including Try Youth and Community Services and KU Children's Services are understood to have expressed interest in acquiring some of the ABC Learning centres. Page 3.

--Australia's A$85 billion tourism industry has urged Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and other senior Government figures to set an example by "taking some personal leave over Christmas and the New Year" to help boost declining tourist numbers. In a recent letter to the Government, Australian Tourism & Export Council managing director Matt Hingerty predicted a 30 percent fall in forward bookings for the first half of 2009 because of the economic slowdown. Page 3.

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

--Automotive industry veterans are disappointed at the Federal Government's A$6.3 billion assistance package for the sector, saying the money is likely to benefit United States-based groups General Motors GM.N and Ford (F.N) rather than their local subsidiaries. Former Mitsubishi Australia managing director Graham Spurling said yesterday that the American parents of carmakers GM Holden and Ford Australia will think Australians are "suckers" for giving them a "free ride" on the research and development of fuel-efficient cars. Page 1.

--New South Wales (NSW) Water Minister Phil Costa yesterday led a delegation of senior union officials into the site of Sydney's proposed desalination plant, in defiance of legal action by construction company John Holland to keep them out. John Holland, which initiated the Federal Court action under national building industry rules, received less than 24 hours notice of the visit. Federal Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard has declined to comment on the union officials' visit, which went ahead despite protests from John Holland. Page 1.

--New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees was yesterday forced to sack suspended minister Tony Stewart after an investigation found Mr Stewart had acted inappropriately towards a staff member. The small business minister had earlier refused to step down despite the probe backing staffer Tina Sanger's allegation that Mr Stewart verbally abused her and restrained her with his hands when she tried to leave a table at an official function. Mr Stewart said the official report had denied him natural justice. Page 1.

--Federal and state Treasury officials have held discussions after the Rudd Government's bank deposit guarantee made long-term state government bonds less attractive for overseas investors. Since the Federal guarantee of bank deposits and wholesale funding was announced in mid-October, states have been unable to continue offering a lower rate of interest than banks. It is understood under one solution being considered, the Commonwealth would borrow the funds itself to issue bonds, and then buy state government securities. Page 2.

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

--The Rees Government in New South Wales has announced changes to motorists' access to Sydney that will result in the city having the most expensive parking in the world, according to data compiled by Secure Parking and Colliers International. The changes, unveiled as part of the Government's mini-budget yesterday, include congestion tolls on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Harbour Tunnel during peak periods and higher parking levies in the central business district and other major business areas. Page 1.

--The Supreme Court in Parramatta has heard that five Sydney men accused of plotting a terrorist act aimed to force the Government to reconsider Australia's participation in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Crown prosecutor Richard Maidment, SC, told the court yesterday that Abdul Rhakib Hasan, Mohamed Elomar, Khaled and Moustafa Cheikho and Mohammed Omar Jalam possessed literature advocating jihadist violence and had obtained some materials for making explosives. The group was arrested in November 2005. Page 2.

--The Federal Opposition has questioned the appointment of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's former chief of staff as head of government relations at Qantas Airways in light of the Government's code of conduct for lobbyists. Liberal senator Michael Ronaldson said yesterday that David Epstein, who resigned as Mr Rudd's principal adviser in October, "is taking a…job on the very issues he has inside information on." A Government code of conduct prohibits certain career moves by former senior staffers for at least a year after quitting. Page 2.

--Aboriginal Australians will be unable to catch up with the rest of the population on welfare and living standards for at least another 28 years, according to Australian National University (ANU) researchers. The ANU study examined past trends to arrive at its pessimistic forecasts, which include that the share of Aborigines in the workforce will continue to lag behind non-indigenous Australians for more than 100 years. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has previously promised to "close the gap" between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. Page 3.

THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)

--A National Australia Bank (NAB) survey has found business confidence has plummeted to its lowest level since the early 1990s. Business confidence slumped last month despite the Reserve Bank of Australia's 1 percentage point cut in official interest rates, while the employment index dropped to its lowest since the terror attacks in the United States in 2001. Responding to the NAB survey, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised to wage a "war on unemployment." Page 1.

--Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has for the second consecutive day declined to deny in Parliament that he or his staff leaked to the media details of a phone conversation between Mr Rudd and United States President George Bush. Staff of Mr Bush, who had professed ignorance about a meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20) nations in the October 10 confidential conversation, are understood to be furious at the leak. Page 2.

--The Melbourne residential property market is under pressure because of the economic slowdown triggered by the global financial crisis. The latest figures from the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) show prices for four-bedroom houses in the inner-east slid by 13.2 percent -- four times more than the decline in Melbourne's September quarter median house price. Page 2.

--Bottled water sold in Australia may come with fluoride added after an application that has the support of the Australian Dental Association (ADA) was received by the food standards regulator. The Australian Beverages Council has made the application to Food Standards Australia New Zealand after the resolution of initial disagreements between the ADA and Coca-Cola Amatil. Page 3. --