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

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