AAP Internet Bulletin 1830 Thursday Feb 18, 1999

AAP General News (Australia)
02-18-1999
AAP Internet Bulletin 1830 Thursday Feb 18, 1999





[A][JOBS HOWARD CENSURE][FED]

Beazley loses PM jobs plan censure motion

Opposition Leader Kim Beazley today lost a censure motion against Prime Minister John
Howard over his government's radical proposals on unemployment and welfare.

"This house censures the prime minister for his instruction to the minister for employment,
workplace relations and small business to develop a secret plan which would break the
government's undertaking that no worker would be worse off under its workplace reforms," Mr
Beazley told parliament.

"(We censure him) for his undermining of Australians' desire for high wage, high skill,
secure jobs and not low wage, low skills and transient jobs."

Mr Beazley said the government wanted to keep Mr Reith's proposals secret because they
broke an election commitment to ensure no worker would be worse off under coalition industrial
laws.

He said Mr Reith's options paper was designed to take the agenda away from his leadership
rival, Treasurer Peter Costello, after their leadership feathers had been plucked by Mr
Howard.

Mr Reith rejected Mr Beazley's censure motion.

"We treat it with the contempt it deserves," Mr Reith said.

"His speech amounts to nothing more than unadulterated drivel.

"The Labor Party talks about human rights. What about the human rights of people having a
job?"

The workplace relations minister turned the censure back on Mr Beazley, moving to amend the
motion to condemn the opposition leader for his refusal to support unfair dismissal laws and
junior wage rates.

The prime minister entered the chamber for the censure vote to the sound of loud catcalls
from the opposition.

Presenting himself to government whip Stewart McArthur to have his vote counted, Mr Howard
shook hands.

"Count your fingers," yelled opposition members to the Whip.

The censure against Mr Howard was lost 76 to 67 and Mr Beazley was censured by the same
vote.





[A][OCALAN AUST VANSTONE ][FED]

Vanstone blames NSW over Kurd protests

Federal Justice Minister Amanda Vanstone today blamed New South Wales authorities for the
violent Kurdish protest at the Greek consulate in Sydney, saying they failed to respond to
commonwealth warnings.

NSW police today said they received no specific warnings that Sydney might be targeted in a
worldwide protest by Kurds over the arrest of their leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Premier Bob Carr said he would seek a briefing on the issue.

But Senator Vanstone told reporters that federal authorities had done all they could to
warn NSW and other states on Tuesday evening of the risks of violent protest at Greek and
Turkish missions.

"The injuries suffered by the NSW police officers, and the damage caused to the consulate
was unacceptable," Senator Vanstone said.

"However, I would like to make it very clear that there was no security failure on the part
of the commonwealth."

She said the federal Protective Security Coordination Centre contacted the NSW police duty
office inspector twice on Tuesday night to get the NSW Police Protective Service Group (PPSG)
to contact their federal counterparts but the NSW PPSG failed to respond.

"The NSW protective security group did not return either of these calls prior to the
incident," Senator Vanstone said.

"From a commonwealth perspective, the commonwealth acted with diligence and appropriate
speed.

"A clear warning as to a threat of violence to premises was passed to the NSW police at
7pm.

"Further attempts were made just before midnight to contact the protective security group
and the NSW police contact point was unable to raise them."

She understood the NSW PPSG was the only state security service which did not respond to
the federal calls.





[I][KURDS PROTESTS ISRAEL][MID]

Turks brush off worldwide Kurd protests

Israeli security guards shot and killed three Kurds who forced their way into the Israeli
consulate today with dozens of protesters enraged by reports that Israel aided in the arrest
of the foremost Kurdish rebel leader.

Turkish officials jubilantly released a videotape of their captive, Abdullah Ocalan,
dramatic footage showing him handcuffed and sweating, his eyes taped shut.

Officials said he was being interrogated in an island prison and promised a fair trial, but
refused to allow three of his foreign attorneys into Turkey.

In Berlin, as many as 100 demonstrators some brandishing clubs and iron bars pummeled
their way past 30 German police officers sent to the Israeli consulate 30 minutes earlier
after officials received reports that Kurds planned to take the building, police chief Hagen
Saberschinsky said.

The Kurds climbed a fence surrounding the four-story white building and broke through the
door. A man and a woman were shot to death in the consulate's foyer and another man was shot
in a stairwell, Saberschinsky said.

Nine Kurds barricaded themselves inside one room, briefly taking a female consular employee
hostage.

At least 43 people were injured: 16 demonstrators and 27 police officers. Police said they
arrested 220 Kurds, 45 at the consulate and the remainder at demonstrations after the
shootings.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that Israel had no role in Ocalan's
arrest and defended the shootings, saying the guards acted in self-defense.

Israel had put its diplomatic missions on alert earlier after a news report claimed that
Israel's Mossad intelligence agency helped Turkey track Ocalan (pronounced OH'-jah-lahn).

The violence in Berlin the worst in two days of protests over the 49-year-old rebel
leader's arrest brought stern warnings for Germany's half-million Kurds to curb their
outrage.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Germany would "not tolerate having political conflicts
from foreign countries carried over into German streets." And Interior Minister Otto Schily
threatened to deport Kurds involved in violent protests.

Ocalan and his guerrillas have waged a 14-year war for Kurdish autonomy in southeastern
Turkey. Almost 37,000 people have died in the conflict. He could face the death penalty if
convicted.





[X][MEDICINE][FED]

Internet to topple doctors -- BMJ editor

The Internet will knock doctors from their pedestals in the coming era of evidence-based
medicine, the editor of the British Medical Journal said today.

Dr Richard Smith, at Monash Medical Centre for a conference on evidence-based health care,
said the consumer-led charge towards sharing medical knowledge would be good for both
practitioners and patients.

Patients were no longer prepared to accept that doctors had "mystical" powers of diagnosis
and ideas about treatment, he said.

"Patients who have chronic diseases, and patients who have rare diseases in particular, are
getting increasingly sophisticated at finding the information they need," Dr Smith said.

"One of the things doctors are going to have to learn to do is to sit down with all the
information, sort it out, pay attention to their patients' wishes and make joint decisions
with them."

While medicos "higher up the totem pole" may be twitchy about the trend, general
practitioners, nurses and junior doctors were keen to get their hands on digests of clinical
information, he said.

"The consultants are not so enthusiastic," Dr Smith said in an interview with AAP.

"If you're a cardiologist, the myth is that you know everything there is to know about
heart disease and that justifies you being a specialist - but in fact that's not the case."

The explosion in medical knowledge and the technology to disseminate it meant patient
demands for a share would be impossible to resist, he said.

"It's going to be good for doctors and patients when they come off that pedestal and
recognise that no-one can possibly know everything about everything," he said.





[A][BUSHFIRES NSW]

Wild bushfire raging in southern NSW

A bushfire raging out of control in southern New South Wales has killed over 4,000 sheep
and burned through 8,800ha of grassland.

Premier Bob Carr declared the massive blaze a bushfire emergency as it continued to burn
near Crookwell, north-west of Goulburn.

The declaration gives Rural Fire Service Commissioner Phil Koperberg the power to call on
the state's entire bushfire fighting resources to control the blaze.

More than 400 firefighters with 60 tankers, two planes and a helicopter were battling to
keep the blaze south of the Abercrombie River, a spokesman for the NSW Rural Fire Service
said.

He said the fire, which started yesterday, was nearing the Abercrombie National Park.

About 4,500 sheep died during this morning's battle to control the fire which is being
fuelled by winds gusting up to 55kph, a NSW Agriculture Department spokesman said.

"We are still waiting to confirm the figure but we have had reports that large numbers of
stock have been lost," he said.

A derelict house on a property was destroyed but no other homes were in immediate danger,
the spokesman said.

Mr Carr said a senior officer from his department had been dispatched to the area to
provide an assessment of the situation and was due to report back later today.

"This appeared to be a tragic loss for people who are always doing it hard and we want to
make sure these families get all the help we're able to offer," he said.





[A][TAX INQUIRY][FED]

GST-free food won't affect tax -- Govt

Government senators today accepted that removing food from the GST package would make
little difference to the overall impact of the tax package.

But they said the government's tax cut would have to be pared back to make up the revenue
shortfall.

The comments were made in the first report of the Senate Select Committee on the
government's tax package, tabled in parliament today.

The report examined the economic modelling underpinning the GST and found senators largely
divided along party lines.

Government senators on the committee said there was no case for removing food from the GST,
but economic modelling showed food could be removed with little overall impact.

"No case was made for making food or other necessities of life GST free," government
senators said in their finding.

"While macro-economic modelling showed similar results for the government's existing tax
package compared to a package which exempts food from a GST and has compensating reductions in
income tax cuts, the result is hardly surprising given that the budgetary impact and therefore
the fiscal stimulus delivered by both the packages is unchanged."





[A][CHILD EXTRADITE][VIC]

Mother charged with her son's murder

A small business manager was charged with murdering her 15-month-old son when she made a
brief court appearance in Sydney this afternoon.

Maria Gulia Sette, 31, of Serpells Road, Templestowe, in eastern Melbourne, was charged
with murdering James Dean Sette at Moama in NSW, near the Victorian border, between February 7
and 8.

Sette was unrepresented when she appeared in Central Local Court and told magistrate Allan
Moore she was not applying for bail.

Wearing a baggy powder blue shirt and black pants, Sette clearly answered questions from
the magistrate and said she had no objection to the case being adjourned to the same court on
February 26.

When she told him she would then be legally represented, the magistrate said he would
explain to her lawyer the possibility of the case moving either to Griffith or Deniliquin in
future.

Sette was extradited to NSW earlier today after appearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court.

The body of 15-month-old James was recovered from a dam near Moama on Friday.

He was allegedly taken from his adoptive parents during a picnic at Daylesford in central
Victoria on February 7, sparking a massive search across the state.

A post mortem in Sydney this week found the baby died of multiple stab wounds to the
chest.





[A][NATION HANSON][QLD]

Hanson close to quitting One Nation party

One Nation's Pauline Hanson had been on the verge of leaving the party she founded after
three of her state MPs quit almost a fortnight ago, Queensland leader Bill Feldman said
today.

Mr Feldman said he knew Ms Hanson was considering her future in politics.

However, he denied he was partly responsible for pressure on her after the 10 Queensland
MPs gave the One Nation's national executive a 10-point ultimatum to reform a party structure
they regarded as undemocratic.

"Perhaps the leaking of that document may have put a lot of pressure on Pauline," Mr
Feldman said.

"But certainly the issues raised in that document certainly wouldn't have."

He also blamed the media for pressure on the former federal MP and now party president.

"Pauline must be given a little bit of time to gather her feet again," Mr Feldman said.

In an ABC television interview, to be screened tonight, Ms Hanson confesses she was ready
to "just pack up" and "go away" after three of the 10 MPs, including her friend and former
deputy leader Dorothy Pratt, left the party to sit as independents.'

In the Australian Story interview, Ms Hanson said the party's national director and her
close personal friend David Oldfield stopped her from resigning.





[A][PIC ARREST][NSW]

Alleged police drug supplier arrested

A TAFE teacher accused of supplying cocaine used by at least six Sydney police was arrested
at the New South Wales Police Integrity Commission today.

Lenin Marx Lambert was confronted with videotaped evidence at the inquiry linking him to an
83 gram stash of the drug.

The tape showed officers discovering nine bags of the cocaine secreted in a clothes dryer
at inner-Sydney Woolloomooloo flat of Lambert's girlfriend in August last year.

Immediately after Lambert finished giving evidence this afternoon, waiting Internal Affairs
police took him into custody behind closed doors.

A PIC spokesman said he had been taken to nearby Sydney Police Centre, where charges were
expected to be laid.

The arrest follows yesterday's testimony by rollover informant Senior Constable Christan
Bruce.

Constable Bruce told the inquiry he had been among a group of several officers who
regularly snorted cocaine and took tablets of ecstasy at Sydney nightclubs.

He alleged that the drugs were frequently supplied to one of the group by Lambert.





[A][EDELSTEN][VIC]

Edelsten loses bid to practise medicine

The once-flamboyant Geoffrey Edelsten today lost his latest battle to practise as a doctor
in Victoria, with a tribunal finding he was not the changed man he claimed to be.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) found Dr Edelsten's character,
rather than his physical ability, worked against his reinstatement as a GP.

It dismissed his appeal against the state's medical board, which has knocked back his
application for reregistration three times. He was banned from practising in 1992 and also in
New South Wales for 10 years in 1988.

"In the light of our findings as to his honesty in the hearing before us, Dr Edelsten's
character still bears a fundamental flaw such as to disentitle him from the privilege to
practise medicine within this state at the current time," the three VCAT judges said.

Dr Edelsten was once connected with everything successful - a prosperous medical empire,
flashy cars, a glamorous wife, celebrity, football clubs.

He is credited with revolutionising medical practices in Australia, introducing
American-style 24-hour super clinics in which he worked 19 hours a day.

But his liaison in 1984 with the notorious hitman Christopher Dale Flannery effectively
destroyed everything the medico had built.

In August 1990, the NSW Supreme Court jailed him for nine months for hiring the now dead
Flannery to bash another man and for helping Flannery pervert the course of justice.

He was also found guilty by the NSW Medical Tribunal of six counts of professional
misconduct and had his name removed from the register.

After his imprisonment, Dr Edelsten returned to Victoria to continue his practice, but the
local medical board deregistered him in 1992.





[S][SWIM WORLD][SWIM]

O'Neill breaks world 200 butterfly mark

Susie O'Neill of Australia shattered swimming's oldest record today, breaking the 200-metre
butterfly world mark with a time of 2 minutes, 05.37 seconds in a World Cup short course meet
in Malmo, Sweden.

O'Neill, 25, improved the record of 2:05.65 set my Mary T. Meagher of the United States on
Jan. 2 1981 at Gainesvile, Florida, by 28 hundredths of a second in Malmo's Aq-va-kul pool.

O'Neill, the reigning Olympic and world champion, finally got the world record nearing the
end of her brilliant career.

Nicknamed "Madame Butterfly", she has said that she will retire after next year's Olympics
in Sydney.

Last September, O'Neill became the greatest swimmer in Commonwealth Games history when she
won her 10th gold medal in Kuala Lumpur.

During another World Cup meet at Hobart in her native Australia last month, O'Neill failed
in an attempt to break Meagher's record.

"Maybe it's better not to aim for a world record," she said. "That's what I did in Hobart,
but I failed.

"I had no idea I was on world-record pace tonight. I couldn't believe I had broken the
record when I got out of the pool. It was so noisy during the race. I thought the fans were
cheering for the Danish girl. Later I understood that the fans wanted to see a world record.
It was a great atmosphere to compete in."

Sophia Skou of Denmark finished a distant runner-up in 2:09.80.

O'Neill, who clocked a 2:06.60 for the second fastest time in history when she won the
event in last year's Commonwealth Games, had finished only sixth in the 100-meter butterfly
during the first session Tuesday.





[T][OLY SPONSORS HOLLWAY][OLY]

No contract renegotiations -- SOCOG boss

Sydney Olympics organisers would not renegotiate contracts with the IOC and the Australian
Olympic Committee if there was a sponsorship revenue shortfall, committee chief executive
Sandy Hollway said today.

The Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) is set to announce two
corporate sponsorships worth $20 million with Melbourne-based companies today, but it is still
about $200 million short in funding.

However, Hollway said he would not attempt to change existing contracts with the
organisations, particularly the AOC contract, worth a guaranteed sum of $102.5 million.

"On the IOC, we can enter into discussions with them about some of the levels of service
and entitlements in the host city contact," he told ABC radio.

"The AOC's contract ... I don't see why they would or indeed should shift away from them.

"The AOC is not in the game plan."

He said SOCOG would get on with raising revenue and contingency planning on expenditure and
reassess the situation in April.





[T][AFL SAINTS][AFL]

Burke wins captaincy but misses Stewie

Nathan Burke today finally won the captaincy of AFL club St Kilda in his own right but
while thrilled to accept the post said he would miss sharing the job with Stewart Loewe.

Burke and Loewe have been co-captains for the past three years, the pair leading the Saints
into their first grand final in 26 years in 1997.

But Loewe relinquished his role in January to concentrate on playing only.

Since then there has been intense speculation that either Burke would share the captaincy
with dual Brownlow Medallist Robert Harvey or that Harvey would be given the job outright.

The Saints instead opted to name Harvey as vice-captain, a position he will share with
defender Darryl Wakelin.

Today's announcement means his 250th game, which he will chalk up in Round One this year,
coincides with his first game as sole captain of the club he has represented since 1987.

Burke, one of the AFL's most inspirational players, also revealed today he would have
preferred Loewe to remain in the job with him.

"In an ideal world Stewart would still be captain with me," Burke said.

"If you ask the players I think they would say that as well because it (dual captains)
worked well."

"But Stewart will still be there to provide on-field leadership for us along with the likes
of Robert Harvey, Darryl Wakelin and Peter Everitt."





[F][QANTAS]

Qantas stuns market with bumper result

Qantas Airways Ltd continued to break all records today stunning the market with its "best
(profit) result to date", news which sent the airline's shares soaring to a new high.

Australia's flagship carrier also said it was confident of "at least" matching last year's
profit in the current financial year without including the gains achieved from asset disposals
during the year.

Qantas reported a half year net profit of $222.9 million, well above the $165.8 million
posted in the first half last year and well on track to beat the 1997/87 after tax profit of
$304.8 million.

The 33.8 per cent rise in net profit for the six months to December 31, 1998, was struck on
revenue of $4.3 billion.

Shareholders were rewarded with a boost in the interim dividend to a fully franked eight
cents per share, up 1.5 cents per share.

The result stunned the sharemarket which sent Qantas shares to a record $4.00, before
settling at $3.91, 20 cents, or more than five per cent higher.

"Since the listing of the company, we have consistently improved profits and the result
represents the fourth consecutive record for the first half," Chairman Gary Pemberton said.

"In financial terms, this is our best to date," he said.

Domestic, international and subsidiary operations all reported double digit improvements in
earnings before interest and tax.

Mr Pemberton said that better than expected revenue in the last quarter was the main driver
of the result but profitability was also boosted by the withdrawal of aircraft from
loss-making routes, the redirection capacity to better performing markets and lower fuel
prices.





[F][ANSETT]

Ansett profit up as global losses ease

Ansett Australia Ltd has delivered a solid rise in first half net profit to $61.6 million
on the back of lower international airline losses and stronger domestic activity.

Ansett executive chairman Rod Eddington said today lower fuel prices, productivity gains
and capacity control also contributed to the bottom line.

He said Ansett remained on track to meet its June 1999 targets of a three per cent profit
margin and six per cent return on assets.

The company was also on par to meet a double digit reduction in unit costs under its
three-year restructuring program.

Ansett's profit margin for the half year was 6.8 per cent and return on assets came in at
7.5 per cent, reflecting the airline's traditionally stronger first half performance.

Mr Eddington said Ansett could not become complacent, noting the company's experience in
1997/98 when it booked a first half result of $66.4 million and dramatically lower full year
outcome of $28 million.

"Our challenge for the rest of this financial year ... is to maintain our focus on
improvement, so we don't lose in the second half what we have worked so hard to achieve so
far," he said.

Ansett would continue to focus on its core business, having divested itself of what the
company considered "distractions".

"We are not looking -- having cranked down the level of distractions for both capital and
management -- we are not looking to repeat those mistakes," he told a Melbourne business lunch
following the release of Ansett's interim result.

Ansett is 50/50 owned by Air New Zealand and News Corp.

KEYWORD: NETNEWS 1830

1999 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.