QLD:Report should stop dam critics: Seqwater

AAP General News (Australia)
08-08-2011
QLD:Report should stop dam critics: Seqwater

BRISBANE, Aug 8 AAP - Southeast Queensland dam operators Seqwater say critics should
stop claiming they should have done a better job during January's floods.

The organisation on Monday responded to the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry's
interim report, released last Monday.

The commission backed the engineers in charge of Wivenhoe Dam during the floods, saying
they made only a small breach of their operating manual, which had little significance.

It praised the engineers for their diligence in managing the flood waters, which swamped
Ipswich and Brisbane.

Seqwater chief executive officer Peter Borrows said he was confident its approach was
appropriate and in accordance with the manual and best practice.

"Given the conclusions of the commission's independent expert, Seqwater notes that
speculation that operating the dams differently during the event, including making earlier
releases, may have resulted in a better mitigation outcome cannot be maintained," he said
in a statement.

Mr Borrows said Wivenhoe Dam was designed to mitigate, not prevent flooding.

"We understand the impacts of the flood upon our community, of which we are a part," he said.

"Unfortunately, this devastation is a consequence of the extreme rainfall within the
catchment both above and below Wivenhoe Dam in January, not the operation of the dams."

The commission will take further submissions before it delivers its final report in
February, and Seqwater would continue to offer every assistance, Mr Borrows said.

The commission will next month hold a second round of public hearings examining insurance
and land use issues.

AAP gd/jnb

KEYWORD: FLOOD INQUIRY

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Religious brother collapses in jail before bail hearing

AAP General News (Australia)
02-18-2005
NSW: Religious brother collapses in jail before bail hearing

A man awaiting extradition to New Zealand on child sex charges has collapsed in jail
shortly before a bail application in his case.

Brother RODGER MALONEY, who's 69, is said to have collapsed this morning in Sydney's
Silverwater jail.

He and Catholic priest Father RAYMOND JOHN GARCHOW, 59, face a total of 32 sex assault charges.

They are accused of sodomising and indecently assaulting boys as young as eight at
the Marylands School in Christchurch between 1966 and 1979.

Earlier this week the Downing Centre Local Court ordered the pair be handed over to
NZ authorities.

MALONEY'S solicitor GREG WALSH has told the court his client collapsed at Sydney's
Silverwater jail as he prepared to leave for this morning's bail hearing.

Mr WALSH says MALONEY'S condition is unclear.

MALONEY and GARCHOW, who have had prostate and throat cancer respectively, have been
granted conditional bail by Justice RODNEY MADGWICK.

The extradition hearing will continue on April the 11th.





((EDS: Reissuing to correct name of court in paragraph five))



AAP RTV kjd/nf/wf/gjr/jo

KEYWORD: BROTHERS (SYDNEY) REISSUING

2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW:Pauline Hanson may form new party =2

AAP General News (Australia)
04-12-2011
NSW:Pauline Hanson may form new party =2

The 2011 election was Ms Hanson's second tilt at the NSW upper house, after she narrowly
missed out in 2003.

Asked if Australian voters, either at a state or federal level, had seen the last of
her, Ms Hanson said, "Do you think it would be?"

"You need me around to keep the bastards honest," the redheaded former Queensland federal
MP joked with the large media pack.

Newly-elected Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham said his election as the fifth Green in the
Legislative Council was a great result for the party.

NSW had dodged a bullet with Ms Hanson failing to get elected, he said.

"The strength of the Greens vote has denied Pauline Hanson a place in the NSW Parliament
- that's a great result for the people of NSW," he said.

Mr Buckingham, a councillor from Orange in the state's central west, picked up the
20th spot in the upper house, while the Nationals' Sarah Johnston picked up the 21st and
final seat.

The coalition government now has 19 seats in the 42-seat Legislative Assembly, Labor
has 14, the Greens five and the Shooters and Fishers and Christian Democrats two each.

AAP ab/wjf/pc

KEYWORD: POLNSW HANSON UPDATE 2 SYDNEY

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

WA:Road rage doctor could lose sports car

AAP General News (Australia)
12-22-2010
WA:Road rage doctor could lose sports car

By Angie Raphael

PERTH, Dec 22 AAP - A Perth doctor convicted of road rage will soon learn whether his
Alfa Romeo sports car will be permanently confiscated when a magistrate hands down his
landmark verdict.

Police want to seize the car belonging to Ala'A Mohammed Ali Al Rammahi who earlier
this year pleaded guilty to reckless driving and was fined.

Angry a woman had beeped her horn at him, Al Rammahi followed and repeatedly pulled
in front of her car, traumatising her and her children.

Police are using a 2007 amendment to anti-hoon confiscation legislation that allows
for vehicles to be seized for road rage offences.

Al Rammahi, who owns two medical practices, is fighting the application, claiming he
would suffer severe financial hardship if he lost his car, valued at between $17,000 and
$20,000.

In the Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday, Al Rammahi's lawyer Max Crispe questioned
the validity of the application.

He argued police technically erred by failing to give his client notice and issued
the application without authority.

Prosecutor Mike Crook said the application should not be dismissed because it was made
"in the spirit" of the legislation.

Magistrate Guiseppe Cicchini said the case could be the first of its kind and queries
over errors with the application had to be resolved.

The court heard that the doctor had financial problems, including a defaulted loan
on a multi-million dollar home. He also still owes about $6000 on his car.

Mr Crook asked Al Rammahi how he expected to make repayments on his car because he
had failed to make the past two.

"I have not paid but (that) doesn't mean that I can't pay," he said.

When pressed further, Al Rammahi snapped: "Do you think I'm lying for $17,000?"

In his closing submissions, Mr Crispe said his client unlikely to re-offend.

Magistrate Cicchini said he would have to consider the doctor's financial and physical
hardship, and other relevant factors including the seriousness of the offence, before
making his decision on Thursday.

AAP anr/ldj/cdh

KEYWORD: RAMMAHI

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

VIC:$265M for state health projects

AAP General News (Australia)
08-14-2010
VIC:$265M for state health projects

The Victorian government has announced the rollout of nearly 270 million dollars in
health and hospital projects to come out of the national agreement signed earlier this
year.

90 million dollars has been directed to capital projects and medical equipment to support
over 100 more hospital beds .. and 175 million dollars for hospitals across the state
to support opening 228 sub-acute beds.

Victorian Health Minister DANIEL ANDREWS says the projects across the state will see
expanded short stay units and emergency departments .. new operating theatres and expanded
intensive care units.

AAP RTV sbl/sw

KEYWORD: HEALTH VIC (MELBOURNE)

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Grounded carrier a ticking time bomb: Brown

AAP General News (Australia)
04-06-2010
Fed: Grounded carrier a ticking time bomb: Brown

By Steve Gray

BRISBANE, April 6 AAP - Australian Greens leader Bob Brown has called for a royal commission
into the grounding of a coal ship inside the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Senator Brown says evidence is emerging that ships laden with toxic cargoes have been
taking shortcuts through restricted reef areas for a long time, posing grave threats to
the pristine environment.

"I call on Prime Minister (Kevin) Rudd to institute an immediate royal commission,"

he told reporters in Brisbane.

Senator Brown said the Senate would reconvene in May, and if the government had not
instituted a royal commission by then, he would move to establish one.

It must look at the grounding of the Shen Neng 1 in a restricted area of the marine
park, but must also take a broader focus, he said.

Senator Brown said existing shipping controls were clearly ineffectual, and the reef
faced an escalating threat as Queensland's coal and liquid natural gas industries crank
up.

The Greens leader said the Queensland and Australian governments had had decades to
put safeguards in place, yet had failed to do so.

"We don't have laws which require pilots, which require tracking," he said.

"Trawlers have got to have them, but not these bulk carriers."

He added: "The coal industry is running government policy here."

Senator Brown said the Shen Neng 1, loaded with coal and heavy fuel oil, was a ticking
time bomb sitting on a World Heritage reef which was now at the mercy of the weather.

Maritime authorities have stabilised the ship and all but stopped the oil leak, but
say the ship still poses a threat, especially if the weather turns bad.

"The one thing that's favouring the Great Barrier Reef at the moment is the weather,
and that's not a consequence of the corporations that are involved here," Senator Brown
said.

"We could have a cyclone in the region. We could have still see stormy weather before
this ship is removed.

"We've got all fingers and toes crossed that the ship can be taken off the reef without
spilling its cargo of either oil or of coal.

"Are we to run the reef on good luck, on the provision of good weather, when tragedies
like this occur?

Senator Brown made reference to case of former Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu, recently
jailed for 10 years in China after admitting to taking bribes.

"What's (China's) President Hu say about a Chinese citizen who comes to Australia on
business and is threatening to take the Great Barrier Reef?

"It's time the Australian government made much stronger moves to protect this World
Heritage environment."

AAP stg/tnf/jl

KEYWORD: CARRIER BROWN 2ND UPDATE

2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

SA: Olympic Dam issues need resolving: SA govt

AAP General News (Australia)
08-24-2009
SA: Olympic Dam issues need resolving: SA govt

ADELAIDE, Aug 24 AAP - BHP Billiton needs to resolve more than 360 concerns regarding
the proposed Olympic Dam uranium mine expansion, the South Australian government says.

The SA government has listed 368 issues in its submission to BHP Billiton's draft environmental
impact statement (EIS) for the mine expansion.

Submissions to the EIS of the proposed expansion of the world's third largest uranium
mine in SA's north were made public on Monday.

The SA government's submissions lists a series of concerns including radiation, greenhouse
gas emissions, air quality and desalination.

"This is the biggest project ... this state has ever seen so it would have been extraordinary
if we did not find issues that we wanted to be further investigated," Premier Mike Rann
said in a statement on Monday.

BHP Billiton has not disclosed the cost of the expansion, which would take up to a decade.

An SA government decision on whether to approve the planned expansion is expected to
made by the middle of next year.

AAP sl/srp

KEYWORD: OLYMPIC

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Claims jobless could be unfairly penalised in new system

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2009
Fed: Claims jobless could be unfairly penalised in new system

CANBERRA, April 15 AAP - Unemployed people could be adversely affected by the transition
into the new employment service system, welfare groups say.

The federal government is undertaking a $4 billion overhaul of employment services,
due to be up and running by July 1.

The Welfare Rights Centre says the transition will lead to an increase in the number
of job seekers who are penalised for not reaching commitments.

In the worst case scenario, a person could end up losing Centrelink payments for up
to eight weeks if they failed to look or show up for work.

"Employment service providers should be directed to take their finger from the trigger
and give job seekers the benefit of the doubt until the new system is bedded down," centre
policy officer Gerard Thomas told AAP.

Mr Thomas has also questioned whether it was reasonable to require job seekers to look
for 10 jobs a fortnight in the current economic climate.

"Engagement that is devoid of purpose and costly is ultimately counter-productive."

The nation's peak welfare group says job seekers will face chaos and confusion during
the changeover.

Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) chief Clare Martin said staff at services
that have lost contracts will move to other providers before the new system starts in
July.

"This would create a staffing vacuum with providers struggling to deliver services
to job seekers," she said in a statement.

"We are concerned many of the 650,000 Australians who are now out of work will be adversely
affected by the transition."

The groups have urged the government to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible.

AAP sld/kms/maur/

KEYWORD: JOBS NETWORK

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Delays, disruption expected under transport plan

AAP General News (Australia)
12-09-2008
Vic: Delays, disruption expected under transport plan

Long suffering commuters can expect years of disruptions on Melbourne roads and rail
services .. with some big ticket transport projects more than a decade away from completion.

A day after the fanfare unveiling of the Victorian government's 38 billion dollar transport
blueprint .. Premier JOHN BRUMBY is urging public transport users and motorists to be
patient.

The message came as the government revealed it would spend about two million dollars
on a transport advertising blitz .. and as community opposition to a new road tunnel mobilised
in the western suburbs.

The centrepiece of the transport plan is a two-and-a-half billion dollar road tunnel
under the Maribrynong River in Melbourne's west .. a four-and-a-half billion dollar cross
city rail tunnel and a North-East Link road.

Work on the latter is not expected to start until 2017 and will not be complete until
some time beyond 2020.

AAP RTV cmb/pmu/wz

KEYWORD: TRANSPORT VIC (MELBOURNE)

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Breakfast, Aug 6

AAP General News (Australia)
08-06-2008
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Breakfast, Aug 6
BREAKFAST ROUND-UP: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 0430


OLY08 AUST TICKETS (SYDNEY)

A Sydney private investigator says the mastermind behind the Beijing Olympics ticketing
scam is a 49-year-old briton with a long history of internet-based fraud.

KEN GAMBLE has been tracking the activities of Londoner TERANCE SHEPHERD .. and says
he's behind a series of illegitimate ticket-selling operations which had targeted major
sporting events .. including Rugby World Cup matches in Australia.

GAMBLE told Fairfax it's a well organised syndicate of fake websites .. which also
deliberately oversells tickets for major events on legitimate websites.



LIBERALS (SYDNEY)

PETER COSTELLO will reportedly not challenge BRENDAN NELSON for the Liberal leadership
.. but may agree to a friendly takeover if DR NELSON opts to stand aside.

Senior Liberals have told News limited MR COSTELLO will only stand for the leadership
if anyone else moved to challenge DR NELSON.

But in the absence of another challenger or any move by DR NELSON to stand aside ..

Liberal sources say MR COSTELLO won't lift a finger to topple the embattled leader.



HOUSING (SYDNEY)

Falling US house prices from the so-called credit crunch .. has left Sydney with the
world's highest real estate prices.

The Institute of Public Affairs says the decline in housing values across America has
drawn Melbourne .. Perth .. Brisbane and Adelaide .. into the world's top ten of the most
unaffordable cities.

And Sydney is now sitting at No.1 in the ranking .. with the average home costing more
than eight times the city's average household income.



GREENSLIP (SYDNEY)

Sydney motorists are facing green slip price hikes of up to 80 per cent .. as some
insurance companies introduce a new risk category for the under 30s.

The new category .. which previously applied to the under 25s .. will see some premiums
rising from below $400 to more than $600 this financial year.

News limited reports at least two insurance companies .. Allianz and AAMI .. have introduced
the new category .. and at least three others are quoting similar premium rises.



TEACHERS VIC (MELBOURNE)

More than 600 Victorian teachers have been forced off the job because of workplace
stress in the past three years .. with Workcover paying out more than $17 million in compensation.

Workplace stress was the most common problem affecting teachers in the past three years
.. with 234 Workcover payouts.

Fairfax obtained the figures under freedom of information .. revealing 26 teachers
won payouts following assaults by students or parents .. with 40 cases of teachers and
principals being exposed to violence .. and 163 suffering harassment.



BARNETT (PERTH)

Former West Australian opposition leader COLIN BARNETT is today expected to be drafted
back to the Liberal leadership.

The 58-year-old would become the Liberals' fourth leader since the party's defeat at
the 2005 election .. after TROY BUSWELL stepped down on Monday to help his party win the
coming election.



GROCERY (CANBERRA)

The federal government is launching a website today that allows shoppers to compare
grocery prices.

The GROCERYchoice website gives consumers a snapshot of the price of goods in supermarkets
across the country.

It comes a day after the consumer watchdog released its report into grocery prices
.. which found there wasn't enough competition among supermarkets .. with the ACCC recommending
unit pricing be introduced.



FERTILITY (CANBERRA)

Australia's in the grip of a baby boom .. but it's not as a result of the baby bonus
or other federal government payments.

The Productivity Commission's released a report showing the fertility rate is at its
highest level since the early 1980s .. at 1.93 babies per woman.

It says around 285-thousand babies were born last year .. but government benefits like
the baby bonus only had a modest influence .. compared to Australia's strong economy of
recent years.



BRIEFLY IN OTHER NEWS ..




Another earthquake has hit China's southwest Sichuan province .. close to the area
devastated by May's quake which killed more than 70-thousand people.




France played an active role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide and the Rwandan government
has named French political and military officials it wants prosecuted.




The inquiry into the bungled terrorism case against MOHAMED HANEEF will today hear
from GEOFF MCDONALD .. a senior official from the federal Attorney General's Department.




Australians have made more than ten million visits to the doctor last year .. to get
help for depression .. anxiety or another mental health problem.




The Salvation Army's Red Shield Appeal has raised a record 71 million dollars this
year .. despite the difficult economic times.




A new survey says most Australian parents oppose the use of celebrities and toys ..

to promote junk food to children and want to see tougher advertising regulations.



IN SPORT ..



AFL MAGPIES (MELBOURNE)

Collingwood will be trying to put the distraction of the embarrassing drink-driving
episode involving star players ALAN DIDAK and HEATH SHAW behind them as they continue
preparations for Saturday night's crucial AFL clash with St Kilda.

Both DIDAK and SHAW were yesterday suspended by the club for the rest of the season
.. after the Magpies learned the pair had lied to club leaders over DIDAK's involvement
in Sunday night's incident.



AFL TRIBUNAL WRAP (MELBOURNE)

Carlton youngster STEVEN BROWNE was cleared of a rough conduct charge at the AFL Tribunal
last night .. saving him from a four-week suspension.

Meantime .. The AFL Tribunal chairman wants a specific "spear tackle" offence introduced
after Geelong veteran DARREN MILBURN exploited a legal grey area to have a suspension
downgraded.

MILBURN risked a three-match ban by taking his rough conduct charge to the tribunal
.. but has had that reduced to one game.



LEAGUE JUDICIARY WRAP (BRISBANE)

Brisbane centre JUSTIN HODGES will fight a contrary conduct charge at the NRL judiciary tonight.

HODGES has been charged with making a rude gesture at referee TONY ARCHER during Sunday's
game against Canberra.

Gold Coast have decided not to defend five-eighth and dual international MAT ROGERS
against a charge of attacking the head of Melbourne winger STEVE TURNER last weekend.

Meantime .. the manager of the Goulburn club TODD CARNEY was asked to leave at the
weekend claims the Raiders star did nothing wrong and was simply a victim of circumstance.

A group CARNEY was with was kicked out of the Goulburn Worker's Club late Saturday
night but manager of the premises PETER WALKER says the suspended star has little to worry
about because it was another person within the group who was causing the problem.



LEAGUE TEAMS (SYDNEY)

Two sides in danger of sliding out of the NRL's top eight have received timely boosts
.. with Dragons captain MARK GASNIER and Penrith second-rower FRANK PRITCHARD both named
to return this weekend.

Meantime .. Bulldogs chief executive TODD GREENBERG says the NRL club may consider
relocating to the NSW central coast with the embattled club facing a $2 million gap in
its coffers.



OLY08 BKB AUST (SHANGHAI, China)

The Australian men's and women's basketball teams leave for Beijing today with both
having completed excellent preparations for the looming Olympic Games campaign.

The Boomers caused a surprise by pushing the United States Dream Team all the way in
their final warm-up game in Shanghai last night .. losing 87-76 .. while the Opals lost
71-67 to the US in the FIBA Diamond Ball final in Haining.



OLY08 ATH LEWIS (SYDNEY)

Australian 800 metre runner TAMSYN LEWIS believes she will be competing against drug
cheats when she lines up for her event at the Beijing Olympics.

LEWIS told New Limited from her training base in Darwin that doping has taken over
the sport and she demanded testing authorities did more to catch cheats.



OLY08 SWM AUST (BEIJING)

World record holder LEISEL JONES says it doesn't matter if she fails to win Olympic
gold in Beijing as she is already satisfied with her title-filled swimming career.

The multiple world and Commonwealth champion has yet to claim an individual Olympic
gold medal after narrow defeats in Athens and Sydney but says gaining redemption for those
results would only be a cherry on top of the cake for her illustrious swim career.



OLY08 AUST (Beijing)

MICHAEL PHELPS .. the likely star of the 2008 Olympics .. will front the world's media
at the United States swimming team's press conference later today.

PHELPS slipped into Beijing on Monday when he took a side exit from the city's airport
.. avoiding hundreds of fans, photographers and reporters.



RUGBY GAFFNEY (DUBLIN)

Australia's ALAN GAFFNEY has been appointed as backs coach of Ireland's rugby union team.

GAFFNEY .. who led Saracens to the European Cup semi-finals last season .. will combine
his Ireland role with a coaching position he recently took up at Leinster.



ENDS BREAKFAST ROUND-UP

BROADCAST DESK INQUIRIES 24 HOURS: 02 9322 8714

AAP RTV /fdf

KEYWORD: BREAKFAST ROUND-UP

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Jury out in methadone manslaughter trial

AAP General News (Australia)
02-12-2008
NSW: Jury out in methadone manslaughter trial

A jury has begun its deliberations at the trial of a Sydney woman .. accused of giving
her six-year-old daughter a fatal dose of methadone.

46-year-old JULIE-ANNE AUSTIN has pleaded NOT guilty to manslaughter .. over the death
of her daughter ROSE in September 2005 .. at their home in Cattai .. in Sydney's north-west.

The jury in the NSW Supreme Court has heard AUSTIN'S partner claimed to have mixed
up a bottle of methadone .. with children's cough mixture.

AAP RTV mss/wf/bart

KEYWORD: AUSTIN (SYDNEY)

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

News Diary events for Saturday, Aug 25, 2007

AAP General News (Australia)
08-25-2007
News Diary events for Saturday, Aug 25, 2007
Good Morning News Editors and Chiefs of Staff

Here is AAP's preliminary newslist for today (not for publication).

This is a guide only and stories, local times and locations are subject to change. In
some cases times and locations may not be available. Story coverage is subject to staffing.

ADELAIDE
- Nil items listed.

BRISBANE
1230 - Walk against Warming march and event at Riverstage, featuring Australian Greens
leader Bob Brown.

CANBERRA
0900 - Australian Defence Force Academy 2007 Open Day, Campbell, ACT.

MELBOURNE
- Nil items listed.

SYDNEY
0930 - Australia Minister for Defence Brendan Nelson will open conference, The Indispensable
Crown: The Way Forward held by Australians For A Constitutional Monarchy.
1100 - Deputy Opposition leader Julia Gillard to officially open Labor candidate Mike
Bailey's campaign office. Suite 1, 246 Pacific Highway, Crows Nest.

PERTH
- Nil items listed.

SPORT:
AFL
Round 21 matches:
MELBOURNE - Carlton v Kangaroos, Telstra Dome, 1410
PERTH - Fremantle v Melbourne, Subiaco Oval, 1610 AEST
MELBOURNE - Collingwood v Sydney, MCG, 1910
ADELAIDE - Adelaide v Brisbane, AAMI Stadium, 1940 AEST
Follow up from St Kilda v West Coast
Previews for Western Bulldogs v Hawthorn, Geelong v Port Adelaide, Essendon v Richmond

LEAGUE
Round 24 NRL matches:
SYDNEY - Cronulla v Gold Coast, Toyota Park, 1730
SYDNEY - Sydney Roosters v Penrith, Sydney Football Stadium, 1930
Follow ups from Bulldogs v Melbourne, Newcastle v North Queensland
Previews for NZ Warriors v Manly, Brisbane v Canberra, Wests Tigers v South Sydney

SOCCER
BRISBANE - A league match: Queensland Roar v Adelaide United, Suncorp Stadium, 1900

RUGBY
SYDNEY - ARC round 3 match: Sydney Fleet v Perth Spirit, North Sydney Oval, 1500

ATHLETICS
OSAKA, Japan - Cover of Aussies at world track and field championships, day one

TENNIS
NEW YORK - News ahead of US Open starting Monday.

SWIMMING
CHIBA, Japan - Analysis of Aussie campaign at 4-day meet in Japan which finished last
night, one year out from Olympics

GOLF
HARRISON, NEW YORK - US PGA Tour's FedEX cup series first event, The Barclays, second round

MOTORSPORT
PERTH - Coverage of nine-day Australian Safari

RACING
SYDNEY - Warwick Stakes meeting at Randwick .. to be decided.

MELBOURNE - Moonee Valley races, with Gold Edition returning
BRISBANE - Doomben Races
ADELAIDE - Miss Finland returns to action at Cheltenham

AAP RTV cdh/rt

KEYWORD: DIARY NEWS SATURDAY

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Share trader in court for alleged insider trading

AAP General News (Australia)
04-10-2007
Vic: Share trader in court for alleged insider trading

A share trader appeared in a Melbourne court today .. charged with insider trading
relating to a Western Australian mining company.

45-year-old PETER WOODLAND .. of Frankston in Melbourne's south-east .. is contesting
17 charges of insider trading at a committal hearing at Melbourne Magistrates' Court.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleges WOODLAND traded securities
in Kanowna Consolidated Gold Mines .. now known as Andean Resources Limited .. five times
in November and December 2003.

ASIC alleges he had insider knowledge of the company's acquisition of the Cerro Negro
gold mining project in Argentina .. before it was made public in December 2003.

ASIC also alleges WOODLAND passed his inside knowledge onto people he met through the
internet-based financial services chat site .. Hotcopper.

Magistrate PETER MEALY has adjourned the hearing until tomorrow.

AAP RTV mj/mh/af/wf

KEYWORD: WOODLAND (MELBOURNE)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Qld: Man in custody after Sunshine Coast chase

AAP General News (Australia)
12-08-2006
Qld: Man in custody after Sunshine Coast chase

BRISBANE, Dec 8 AAP - A 28-year-old man is in custody after a manhunt on the Sunshine Coast.

Roadblocks were set up and cars searched after police tried to pull over a driver for
questioning on the Glasshouse Mountains Tourist Drive around 11.30am (AEST).

The red sedan failed to stop and police started but ended a brief pursuit a short time
later, concerned about way the car was being driven.

Police searched nearby houses, cars and properties and at one stage police were told
the wanted man could have been in a car on the Bruce Highway.

Two occupants of the car were dragged from the vehicle in front of startled motorists
before the wanted man was found in a caravan park at the Glasshouse Mountains.

It is alleged he was in possession of a firearm and a balaclava.

No charges have yet been laid.

Police have refused to confirm reports the man and his associates were part of a bikie gang.

AAP rad/sc/jt/de

KEYWORD: MANHUNT

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Tas: Fox carcass signals national emergency: Greens

AAP General News (Australia)
08-02-2006
Tas: Fox carcass signals national emergency: Greens

By Robyn Grace

HOBART, Aug 2 AAP - The discovery of yet another fox carcass in Tasmania signals a
national environmental emergency, says Greens leader Bob Brown.

Senator Brown said he was horrified by the latest discovery, warning the island state
could lose its status as a "Noah's Ark" of rare and endangered species.

He wants an urgent meeting with federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell to urge greater
national input for fox eradication efforts in Tasmania.

The fox carcass, discovered on a road in the Northern Midlands yesterday, is the fourth
to be found in the state since 2001.

Scientists believe the age of the new carcass confirms the pests are breeding.

Tasmania was believed to be fox free until a report from the Canberra-based Invasive
Animals Cooperative Research Centre confirmed their presence in June.

Foxes have been blamed for devastating native species on the Australian mainland, in
some cases causing extinctions.

"It is a national environmental emergency. Tasmania is a virtual Noah's Ark of rare
and endangered species, many of which are extinct or nearing extinction on mainland Australia,"

Senator Brown said in a statement.

"These include the bettong, barred bandicoot, eastern quoll and ground parrot.

"There should also be no stone left unturned finding and imprisoning the criminals
who are responsible for foxes being brought into Tasmania."

Scientists are very worried about the latest find.

"It's hard to get away from the probability that it was born here," senior wildlife
biologist Nick Mooney told ABC radio.

"It's a long way away from ports of entry ... it's years past our reports of the original
introductions, in fact it'd have to be a doddering old-timer with a Zimmer frame to have
made it that long.

"It's very hard to avoid confronting that, yes, it's a fox that was bred here."

Mr Mooney said the carcass confirmed the necessity of the government's fox-free taskforce,
but eradication of the pest needed to be a community-wide effort.

Talkback calls following yesterday's find showed many people are still sceptical about
whether there are foxes in the state.

"We need people to get their heads out of the sand and pitch in and see what is so
obvious: we have foxes here and we've got to get rid of them," Mr Mooney said.

The Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association yesterday called for the state government
to boost funding to the taskforce, saying an established fox population would wreak havoc
on the state's economy and could cost the agricultural sector up to $8 million per year.

A spokesman for Primary Industries Minister David Llewellyn said the government had
committed $600,000 a year for four years to the taskforce and had written to the Commonwealth
asking it to match the funding.

AAP rgr/sp/sd

KEYWORD: FOX (WITH FACTBOX)

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW:Fire closes park in southern Sydney

AAP General News (Australia)
02-12-2006
NSW:Fire closes park in southern Sydney

SYDNEY, Feb 12 AAP - Firefighters from eight brigades are battling a fire in a park
in Sydney's south.

Forty firefighters were trying to contain the blaze in Oatley Park, Oatley, which broke
out about 3pm (AEDT) today, said NSW Fire Brigades Inspector Gordon Boath.

"The park has been evacuated and closed to the public as the fire burns slowly in a
north easterly direction," Insp Boath said.

"There is no property under immediate threat, however, protection is being provided
for Oatley Primary School should there be any change."

AAP smb/it/sd

KEYWORD: BLAZE

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Govt has no plans to expand role of Christmas Island

AAP General News (Australia)
04-26-2005
Fed: Govt has no plans to expand role of Christmas Island

CANBERRA, April 26 AAP - The federal government has denied it plans to expand Christmas
Island's role in the immigration detention policy.

Only those who reach an area specially excised after the 2001 Tampa incident are detained
offshore.

Gordon Thompson, the shire president of Christmas Island where Australia is building
an 800-bed immigration centre, said yesterday he had been told the government had changed
its policy.

He said the government intended all refugees who come by boat to Australia would be
detained on Christmas Island.

Mr Thompson said the policy had been spelled out at a meeting between the government's
Immigration Detention Advisory Group and island officials.

But a spokesman for Immigration Minister Senator Amanda Vanstone today said the government
had no plans to change the policy.

"Christmas Island is used for unauthorised boat arrivals who arrive in areas that are
excised from the migration zone, and there's no plans to change that," the spokesman said.

During the 2001 Tampa crisis, the government changed migration laws to ensure refugees
detained on Christmas Island could not apply for a visa and were denied access to refugee
services.

Mr Thompson said the cost of the $336 million centre seemed like a lot to spend, with
the number of asylum seekers falling steeply in recent years.

AAP db/cf/bwl

KEYWORD: ASYLUM DENIAL

2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

rationalized Planck constant

rationalized Planck constant See Planck constant.

Surfing safari: Our readers' favorite bookmarks. (Tech Talk).

He used to croon 'round the world with his family; now he's helping families around the world make beautiful music together. As co-founder and chairman of several online companies and charities dedicated to strengthening families and improving lives, Alan Osmond is never far from the spinnings of the World Wide Web.

He and his wife, Suzanne, oversee TheFamily.com, OneHeart.org, Deaf.net and LazyRiverFarms.com. Even while working on his sites, Osmond logs on to other favorites to read the news or listen to inspirational speeches. Following are a few of Osmond's favorite websites.

www.cnn.com

Osmond keeps apprised of national and worldwide news by following the latest developments on CNN.

www.ksl.com

Local news is also important to Osmond, and he likes the spate of local headlines available online from KSL.

www.mswatch.com

Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, Osmond is an active supporter of research and education for MS. He frequents this site for updates and events related to MS.

www.kbyu.org

Osmond's life is one of aspiration and inspiration, and he often clicks over to kbyu.com to listen to motivating speeches by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

www.yahoo.com

An old habit dies hard for Osmond, who turns to this long-lived search engine to find information on the Internet.

Poser 4 Fine-Tuning Your Figure.(Meta Creations' animation software)(Software Review)(Evaluation)

First developed as a modest tool for creating 3D models of the human body, Meta Creations Corp.'s $249-estimated Poser 4 is a one-of-a-kind solution. Poser lets Web authors, 2D and 3D artists, animators, and product designers quickly produce lifelike human models. This version boasts a more robust feature set that lets you generate distinctive male and female figures, pose and animate them with anatomical accuracy, and dress them in stylish digital clothing.

Poser 4's improved features eliminate many of the limitations that hampered earlier releases. Its libraries of more than 60 predefined 3D models now have greater detail and more lifelike faces than the mannequin-like figures supplied with past versions. Many new models have been added as well, including babies, animals, and even three fully articulated robots. Poser 4 also includes lower-detail versions of each model that improve the program's performance on slower systems and simplify low-resolution projects such as Web-page illustrations.

Poser's array of body-customization tools is impressive. Simple and intuitive drag-and-drop procedures and high-precision dial controls let you adjust facial features, change a model's ethnicity, or quickly convert a basketball player into a hulking wrestler. Each model includes accurately functioning joints that make it easy to drag heads, hands, torsos, and limbs into anatomically correct poses. In addition, you can import 3D objects created in other programs and assemble them into your own shapeable figures.

Poser 4's new customizable clothing wardrobes include tuxedos, halter tops, cowboy hats, bikinis, and sandals. The program's rendering tools now offer more flexible lighting and camera controls that let you adjust the reflectivity and transparency of every feature to create effects such as thinning hair, shiny armor, or transparent clothing. The Sketch Designer function provides a huge selection of natural-media effects that make your scenes look like oil paintings or pencil drawings. You can even add soundtracks to animations, and style and animate your models' hair.

Performance on our 450MHz Pentium II testbed was good; even antialiased 640x480 renderings took less than 30 seconds to complete. Creating movies with Poser's graphical keyframe-style animation module was straightforward, and the program offered a superior range of options for exporting rendered images and movies to other programs or to the Internet.

No other program is like Poser 4. It won't replace a general-purpose 3D modeling package, but if you need a way to quickly model the human figure, it's really your only choice.

Product Poser 4Company MetaCreations Corp. Carpinteria, CA; 800-846- 0111, 805-566-6200 www.metacreations.com/products/poser4 Requires 32MB RAM; 240MB hard drive space; 16-bit graphics display (24-bit recommended). Windows: Pentium processor; Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT 4. Mac: 64MB of RAM recommended; PowerPC processor (604 recommended); Mac OS 8Support Live phone support, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays (ET), for 90 days after purchase, 30 days for upgrades; fax; WebSuitability A useful tool for Web authors, graphic artists, animators, and hobbyists who want a quick way to generate lifelike models of the human bodyMfr. Est. Price $249

Corporate Profile for Siegel & Gale, dated October 1, 1999.

--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The following Corporate Profile is available for inclusion in your files. News releases for this client are distributed by Business Wire and also become part of the leading databases and online services, including all of the leading Internet-based services. -0-

  Published Date:   October 1, 1999  Company Name:     Siegel & Gale  Address:          10 Rockefeller Plaza                   New York, NY  10020  Main Telephone  Number:          212/707-4100                   fax 212/707-4001  Internet Home  Page Address   (URL)           www.siegelgale.com  Chief Executive  Officer:         Alan Siegel  Chief Financial  Officer:         Robert Saporito  Public Relations  Contact:         Rebecca Lieb, Vice President, Communications  Business number: 212/707-3876  E-mail address:  rlieb@siegelgale.com  Industry:         Siegel & Gale is the world's largest independent                   strategic branding, communications and interactive                   media consultancy. 

Company description: Founded in 1969, Siegel & Gale (www.siegelgale.com) is a global leader in strategic brand-building, communications, and interactive media. The firm creates powerful integrated communications programs that clarify, humanize and energize corporate and brand voices. Headquartered in New York, with offices in Los Angeles and London and affiliates in Latin America and Asia, Siegel & Gale provides an expanded portfolio of strategic services for numerous Fortune 500 companies, leading non-profit organizations, and interactive media startups. Clients include American Express, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Kodak, Girl Scouts of the USA, Citibank, Bayer Corporation, Schlumberger, Medtronics, and WNET Thirteen.