PRESS DIGEST-Australian General News - Oct 7

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)

--Concerns yesterday that the financial crisis originating in the United States had spread to Europe caused markets to decline worldwide, including in Australia. As the German government attempted to prop up the embattled Hypo Real Estate with a 50 billion euro (A$90 billion) rescue package, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index shed 3.3 percent. With central banks responding more aggressively to the crisis, the Reserve Bank of Australia is today expected to cut interest rates by 0.5 of a percentage point to 6.5 percent. Page 1.

--Australia's Big Four banks are set to lead a wave of consolidation in the sector in the wake of the credit crisis, observers said yesterday. While Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) is expected to complete a A$16.6 billion acquisition of St George Bank next month, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) is likely to announce a A$2 billion takeover of BankWest, the local subsidiary of distressed British bank HBOS HBOS.L. Meanwhile, banking and insurance group Suncorp (SUN.AX) said yesterday it had received several approaches for its bank and wealth management operation. Page 1.

--Executives of some computing and communications companies are facing criticism for drawing large salaries and bonuses while their businesses struggle. At finance software firm Bravura Solutions (BVA.AX), which has been hit with margin lending problems and earnings downgrades, co-chief executive Iain Dunstan received a A$350,646 cash bonus last month. Executives are also increasingly disinclined to opt for share-based payments as shareprices decline, a trend the Australian Shareholders Association yesterday called hypocritical. Page 1.

--Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will today release criteria for the assessment of infrastructure projects competing for support from the A$20 billion Building Australia Fund. Under the guidelines, which Infrastructure Australia will use to select projects for funding, the environment and social benefits of a proposed project will be considered in addition to its potential to lift Australia's productivity and global competitiveness. Mr Rudd will tell an infrastructure summit that the criteria will ensure a truly transparent process. Page 3.

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

--Rio Tinto's (RIO.L) (RIO.AX) iron ore mining operations in Western Australia's Pilbara region are bracing for the first strikes since 1992. As Australian Workplace Agreements expire, locomotive drivers who are members of the Construction, Forestry Mining and Energy Union have voted in favour of industrial action in pursuit of collective agreements. Rio Tinto Iron Ore yesterday warned of a return to pre-1992 industrial disputes, which "led to the significant strengthening of Australia's international competitors in iron ore." The drivers have defended their action. Page 1.

--Three of Australia's Big Four banks sourced loans from the Federal Government's Future Fund following the collapse of United States investment bank Bear Stearns on March 16 and the ensuing cash crunch, it emerged yesterday. ANZ Bank, National Australia Bank (NAB.AX), and Westpac tapped funding for as long as 10 years. It is understood Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) did not obtain cash from the Future Fund, possibly because of the risk of a perceived conflict of interest as the fund's chairman was formerly CBA's (CBA.AX) chief executive. Page 1.

--The Rudd Government plans to force 100,000 Aboriginal Australians into the workforce within a decade by ending the indigenous work-for-the-dole scheme and abolishing higher welfare payments to do community work. The Community Development Employment Projects scheme will be transformed into a program to better prepare Aborigines in remote communities for the workforce by improving literacy and numeracy. Page 1.

--Federal Deregulation Minister Lindsay Tanner said yesterday the problem of executive pay packages that reward short-term gains was more serious overseas than in Australia. Mr Tanner's comments came in the wake of calls by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for global regulators to lift capital requirements for firms that reward excessive risk-taking by executives. Mr Tanner also downplayed any need for greater regulation to combat the financial crisis, saying "improving regulation doesn't necessarily mean more regulation." Page 2.

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

--Credit card fraud cost Australians over half a billion dollars last year, a 30 percent increase over the previous year, according to a survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Anti-virus company F-Secure says Australia is the sixth most targeted country in the world for "trojan" software attacks on computers which can gain access to online passwords. Computer security experts say bank customers are not being given sufficient information about the dangers as banks seek to encourage online transactions. Page 1.

--The Federal Government allegedly told the New South Wales (NSW) Government the planned North West Metro project in Sydney would receive nothing from the A$20 billion Building Australia fund as there were no votes for Labor in the area. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan met Government officials in February to discuss what the NSW Government would seek from the fund. Page 1.

--Up to A$10 million may need to be spent on repairs of the High Court building in Canberra, according to the Court's chief executive, Andrew Phelan. The building, which was completed in 1980 in the so-called "late 20th-century brutalist style," is already having A$3.5 million spent on roof repairs over the next few months, with the Court relocated to Adelaide for November and Melbourne during December. The building, which has around 100,000 visitors each year, also fails a number of building and safety codes. Page 1.

--The father of missing backpacker Britt Lapthorne has criticised the Federal Government and Australian Federal Police for not providing the family with information, or even contacting him in the past five days. Mr Lapthorne, who has travelled to the Croatian town of Dubrovnik where Ms Lapthorne was last seen on September 18, also expressed concern that local residents were unwilling to provide information as they wished to protect the town's reputation as a tourist destination. Page 2.