AAP Internet Bulletin 1400 Thursday Jan 28, 1999

AAP General News (Australia)
01-28-1999
AAP Internet Bulletin 1400 Thursday Jan 28, 1999

[A][TAX][FED]

Fischer dismisses GST critics

Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer today said he was unconcerned by what critics of the GST
would say at today's Senate committee hearing into the planned new tax.

The St Vincent de Paul Society plans to urge the federal government to dramatically upgrade
compensation for the poor in its tax package after a new survey found low income earners would
suffer hefty price hikes under the GST.

The survey, carried out over the Christmas-New Year period by the charity, found low income
earners would suffer most from higher prices.

But Mr Fischer, in rural NSW for his annual Tumbatrek through the Snowy Mountains,
cautioned those advocating change to consider the economic climate.

"All of them should remember that before you start to carve up the cake, you have to have
the economic wherewithall and the economic cake in the first place," Mr Fischer told
reporters.

Mr Fischer declined to comment on speculation that Queensland independent Senator Mal
Colston would leave the Senate before his term ends in June.

The vote of Senator Colston, who is in ill-health and faces criminal charges over travel
allowance use, is crucial to the government's hopes of passing the GST legislation through the
Senate.

Mr Fischer said he wished Senator Colston well but said he was not worried by the prospect
of his early departure.

"There's no particular concern other than to get an honest vote out of the Senate and a
considered vote for a terrific package," he said.

"We have weathered the economic firestorms to date, we have a budget in surplus ... we've
had very good macro-economic management."





[A][ECONOMY CPI][FED]

Inflation remains subdued

Inflation remained subdued in the three months to December despite climbing costs for fresh
fruit and vegetables, holiday travel and furniture.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.5 per cent in the December quarter, bringing it to an
annual rate of 1.6 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said.

The figure suggests inflation remains contained despite the small increase, as the annual
rate remains below the Reserve Bank's target zone of between two and three per cent.

But it was marginally higher than economists' expectations for the December quarter, which
centred on a rise of 0.4 per cent for the quarter and a 1.5 per cent annual rate.





[T][SWIM PERKINS][SWIM]

Swim body surprised at "Superfish" move

The Queensland Swimming Association today expressed surprise at Olympic gold medallist
Kieren Perkins' application to register the word "Superfish" as a trademark.

QSA chairman Greg Lalor said the term had always been associated with 1970s distance
swimming great Stephen Holland.

"I don't think I've ever referred to (Kieren) as Superfish," Lalor said.

"Straight away we reflect back on Stephen Holland. For Kieren to be Superfish number 2,
frankly I don't think it's a bright move at all. I don't see that word now as of any great
value in a marketing process.

"I don't see any great sales value in that."

The QSA has been using the word Superfish for years in relation to its Year 2000 Target
Squad, of which Perkins is a member.

"It's just about worn out," Lalor said.

He said he had legal advice the QSA could continue using the word if the Perkins
application succeeded.

"We won't be putting in any objection to it," Lalor said.

"You can't be disappointed with Kieren. He's given so much."





[A][SICKIES][WA]

Employers disbelieve medical certificates

Almost half of West Australian employers doubted the veracity of medical certificates of
employees claiming sick leave, a new survey has found.

The survey of 450 WA businesses, conducted by the WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI)
and Bankwest, found that 49 per cent of employers had little or no confidence that medical
certificates were evidence of genuine illnesses.

Although most businesses reported that the proportion of working days lost to sickness had
not increased, 34 per cent said the number of employees claiming stress-related leave had
increased.

Employees in the education sector claimed the highest percentage of working days lost due
to stress-related sick leave, at 10 per cent.

CCI occupation health and safety officer Anne Bellamy said the results proved the need for
closer liaison between doctors and employers on workplace health and employee rehabilitation.

"Rightly or wrongly, employers are developing these perceptions and we are keen to get a
dialogue going to get to the bottom of it," Ms Bellamy said.





[A][GAS VALVE][VIC]

Gas plant leak unrepaired for months

A malfunctioning valve remained unrepaired for six months before the fatal explosion and
fire at Esso's Longford plant, the gas royal commission was told today.

Operations technician Peter Burley said the TRC3B valve, which was involved in regulating
the temperature of equipment in gas plant one at Longford in southeastern Victoria, had been
working only sporadically since March 1998.

The royal commission before former high court justice Sir Daryl Dawson, has heard an order
for the valve to be repaired was not made until September 15.

The valve was still inoperative when an exchanger in gas plant one exploded 10 days later
after its temperature plummeted to 30 degrees Celsius below its operational limit.

Two workers were killed in the explosion and fire which followed, eight others were injured
and Victorians lost their gas supply for 10 days.

Mr Burley said malfunctioning items could remain unrepaired for long periods as higher
priority items took precedence.

He said gas plant one should have been shut down while TRC3B was repaired.

"In March there is a problem, here we are in August, September, (and) there is still a
problem, why don't we get the dammed thing fixed," Mr Burley said.

The royal commission continues.





[A][BOY][NSW]

Boy pushed six-year-old in river: lawyer

A 10-year-old boy said something like "too bad" or "bad luck" before throwing a struggling
six-year-old boy into a Sydney river, a magistrate was told today.

In his opening address, Greg Smith for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said two
six-year-old boys would testify that they saw the older boy throw Corey Davis into the river.

The defendant, now 11, is facing a committal hearing at Cobham Children's Court charged
with the manslaughter of six-year-old Corey in March last year.

The boy drowned in the Georges River at Macquarie Fields in Sydney's southwest.

Mr Smith said the defendant and Corey apparently argued before the boy was thrown into the
river, off an area called Big Rock which jutted out about two to three metres above the
water.

"Corey resisted when (the boy) grabbed him ... he punched and kicked him in the legs as he
was carried for some distance over to the rock ledge but to no avail," Mr Smith said.

The two witnesses would allegedly say that the 10-year-old boy told them he would go and
get help but he did not return.

"Before throwing Corey into the river he made a comment like 'too bad' or 'bad luck'," Mr
Smith said.

The committal hearing was continuing.





[S][OLY BRIBES]

US govt could charge Olympic bribers

US investigators scrutinizing the Salt Lake City Olympic scandal are searching for evidence
to bring a bribery prosecution in which both bribers and recipients could be charged, federal
officials say.

Federal prosecutors and agents are looking at mail and wire fraud and conspiracy statutes
and a racketeering law to prosecute what they initially see as a case of commercial bribery,
rather than the more familiar government variety, the officials said Wednesday.

The US Justice Department normally lets private parties resolve commercial bribery cases
through civil lawsuits rather than bringing a federal criminal charge. The exception is when a
federal interest is involved, like the integrity of the Olympic Games.

The racketeering law prohibits interstate and foreign travel to further federal or state
crimes like bribery and extortion or to distribute their illicit proceeds.

Also under study are tax, currency transfer and foreign bribery statutes that might provide
additional charges, according to these Justice Department officials, who spoke on condition of
anonymity.

But the federal inquiry is in a very early stage months from key decisions about what
charges to bring or even whether to file charges.

Federal agents are still trying to understand the records they subpoenaed from Salt Lake's
bid committee. Stephanie Pate, one-time secretary of former bid committee head Tom Welch, has
been meeting with agents this month.

Four members of the International Olympic Committee have resigned over the scandal. Kenya's
Charles Mukora, who resigned Wednesday, was among six members who were effectively expelled
Sunday following revelations of misconduct in the Salt Lake bidding. Others remain under
investigation.

The IOC said Salt Lake City's 2002 bid committee spent dlrs 800,000 on 14 IOC members,
including travel expenses, scholarships for their children and cash payments.





[A][INDON TIMOR HORTA][FED]

Timor announcement branded a lie

Any suggestion the Indonesian Government would grant East Timor independence was just a
lie, independence leader Jose Ramos Horta said today.

He said the government raising the prospect of granting the troubled province independence
was a sham aimed at the diplomatic community.

"No credibility, I don't place too much faith in it," Mr Ramos Horta, who lives in
Australia in self-imposed exile, told Radio National.

"We are sick and tired of promises, statements coming out of Jakarta which are in contrast
with the reality in East Timor, where people are being slaughtered, where women are still
raped, torture is rampant, there are more than 20,000 troops there."

He said the announcement late yesterday did not sound serious.

Resolving the future of East Timor was not going to be a cabinet or assembly decision.

"Only a referendum under UN supervision where the people can vote freely without coercion,
without Indonesian troops present, can be acceptable," Mr Ramos Horta said.

He said the announcement came at the same time the government was instigating violence in
East Timor and arming paramilitary groups.

"It is intimately related. On one hand they arm groups in East Timor to slaughter each
other then blame the East Timorese for the violence there, as they are doing, saying that the
East Timorese cannot govern themselves, so it justifies their presence there," Mr Ramos Horta
said.

"At the same time they make promises, statements in Jakarta about autonomy and possible
independence.





[F][AUST STOCKS]

Stocks rebound at noon

The Australian stock market rebounded at noon after the release of lower than expected
inflation figures.

At 1216 AEDT, the all ordinaries index was 22.6 points firmer at 2874.0 after earlier
hitting lows of 2848.1.

Reynolds stockbroker Steve Negrine said that the market had been spurred off its early lows
after the release of the consumer price index figures that showed the December quarter
underlying inflation rate to be 0.3 per cent, or 1.6 per cent for the year.

"The inflation figure came out (at 1130 AEDT) and it was pretty benign. It showed the
economy is growing well with no inflation worries and it (the market) has really spurred on
since then," Mr Negrine said.





[I][QUAKE COLOMBIA][SAM]

Hungry quake victims loot markets

Hungry and desperate survivors of a deadly earthquake looted markets today, and acute
shortages of everything from antibiotics to coffins aggravated one of Colombia's worst
disasters.

Rescue teams arrived from Mexico, Japan, Britain and the United States to help search for
survivors and pull bodies from hundreds of downed buildings. Using heavy machinery, rescuers
uncovered corpses throughout Armenia, the worst-hit city with 300,000 residents.

The official death toll from Monday's magnitude-6 earthquake stood at 720 but was expected
to rise. The quake devastated western Colombia, a vast Andean terrain where much of the
world's coffee is grown. Several search and rescue officials have said they expect the death
toll to exceed 1,000 in 17 towns.

Also Wednesday, a magnitude-5.4 earthquake shook northeast Colombia. No casualties or
damage were reported. The quake hit at 1406 GMT near the town of Los Santos, 240 kilometres
northeast of the capital Bogota, the National Seismological Network said.

In Armenia, some 500 bodies have been recovered and desperate people formed block-long
lines at relief stations. Others jammed the city's main access roads in an attempt to get
out.

"There's nothing to eat. There's no milk. There's nothing," said Edgar Angulo, 38, who
stood despondent next to a rapidly emptying supply jeep.

Victims approached any stranger asking for help.

"You don't know where I can find a doctor? There are no doctors where we live," said
Fernando Gomez, 36, who said he had a rash and that his children who'd only eaten bread and
sugar water since Monday were suffering from an unknown virus.

The government was flying more than 94 tons of relief supplies to the coffee belt
Wednesday, said Interior Minister Nestor Humberto Martinez. This year's coffee crop was not
expected to be seriously damaged because coffee plants are still standing, agricultural
officials said.

The Health Ministry, meanwhile, dispatched workers to fumigate areas to prevent outbreaks
of malaria and to kill rats.





[I][POPE]

Pope condemns the death penalty

Pope John Paul II brought his campaign against capital punishment to a death-penalty state
in America's heartland Wednesday, urging 100,000 worshippers to spare even those who commit
"great evil."

"Modern society has the means of protecting itself without definitively denying criminals
the chance to reform," he said during a Mass at the Trans World Dome on the final day of his
visit to the Americas.

"I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to end the death
penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary."

The message may have had particular relevance in Missouri, where the state Supreme Court,
without explanation, postponed an execution that was to have taken place while the pope was in
town. Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls called the delay "a mockery." On Jan. 13, a killer
was executed by injection in Missouri.

Addressing the largest crowd of his 30-hour visit to the United States, his fifth to the
U.S. Mainland, the pope also lashed out against abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide, and
declared that "the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone
who has done great evil."

He also invited Roman Catholics separated from their faith to return to the church, even if
there are "obstacles to Eucharistic participation," a reference to divorce and remarriage.

And he called on his flock to end racism. Racism is "a plague which your bishops have
called one of the most persistent and destructive evils of the nation," the stooped,
78-year-old pontiff said, his voice hoarse and his words slurred.

Later Wednesday, John Paul was to meet with civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, the black
seamstress whose refusal to give up her seat on a segregated bus in 1955 led to the
Montgomery, Ala., Bus boycott.

The pontiff also was scheduled to deliver an evening prayer service at the Cathedral
Basilica and meet with Vice President Al Gore before leaving for Rome on Wednesday night.





[A][MAGISTRATES][NSW]

Magistrates considering industrial action

Magistrates are still considering whether to take industrial action over their workload
after meeting last night to discuss a campaign to ease their burden.

The executive of the Magistrates Institute of New South Wales said the call for a new
industrial focus to the organisation by Deputy State Coroner Jan Stevenson was still being
considered.

Institute president Magistrate Robart Aboud said in a statement that the executive has
considered the matters raised in Magistrate Stevenson's letter and would follow those matters
up.

Mr Aboud said there would be no further comment at this stage.

It was reported last week that Ms Stevenson had written to all 127 NSW magistrates calling
for a united, forceful approach to pursue working conditions, especially leave, similar to
those enjoyed by District Court judges.

Among strategies understood to be under consideration by the institute are work-to-rule
bans and capping the number of matters dealt with daily by the local court.

Figures made public last week showed courts across NSW dealt with an average of 110
apprehended violence order applications each day, contributing to stress illnesses among
magistrates.





[I][DIANA][EUR]

Paparazzi summoned by Diana crash judge

The judge in the Princess Diana investigation has summoned all the paparazzi implicated in
the fatal crash to appear before him on Friday, indicating the case may be nearing an end, a
judicial source said today.

It wasn't clear whether Judge Herve Stephan had some final questions or if he was planning
to drop charges against some of the parties. But an end to the investigation has been widely
expected to be announced within days.

Still, the case wouldn't be completely over. The defendants would have several weeks to
demand further tests or questioning before Stephan draws his conclusions.

The judicial source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, had no further details.

Diana, her boyfriend Dodi Fayed and their driver, Henri Paul, were killed in the August
31, 1997 crash in a Paris traffic tunnel. Paul was drunk at the time.

Nine photographers and a press motorcyclist who were tailing the Mercedes have been placed
under investigation on charges of manslaughter and failing to aid people in danger. The
manslaughter charges are expected to be dropped.

The judicial source also said phone records may help bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, the sole
survivor of the crash, in his attempt to recover damages from the Etoile Limousine company. He
has accused the company, along with the Ritz Hotel, of putting the occupants of the Mercedes
in danger. Etoile's only client is the Ritz.

According to the source, phone records show that the company's owner, Nils Siegel, had
telephone contact three times on the day of the crash with an independent photographer
implicated in the case, Fabrice Chassery.

When questioned earlier by Judge Stephan, Siegel denied any contact with the photographer.
Later he admitted receiving three calls, without revealing their content. Stephan is expected
to question the two men together, the source added.

The development, while likely not a major one, might bolster Rees-Jones' case against
Etoile and against his former boss, Ritz owner Mohamed Al Fayed Dodi's father.





[S][RUGBY AUST SCHOOLS][RU]

Aussie Schoolboys go undefeated

The Australian Schoolboys wrapped up their northern hemisphere rugby tour with their
perfect record intact by scoring a convincing 21-9 win in the Test against England tonight.

Inspired by five-eighth and stand-in captain Tim Donnelly, who scored two tries and helped
create the other, the Aussies dominated throughout in cold, windy conditions at Bridgewater,
Gloucestershire.

In doing so, they earned comparisons to the great schoolboy teams of the past, by going
unbeaten through 13 matches on an arduous eight-week tour of five countries.

They emulated the 1977-78 side which hatched the Ella brothers and future rugby league
great Wally Lewis, as well as unblemished predecessors from 1981-82, 1985-86 and 1990-91.

And they atoned for the imperfect record of the 1994-95 side, which dropped their England
Test at the end of the tour, 30-3.

Tonight's match shaped as the toughest on tour for the Wallaby hopefuls, who had romped
away with three of their four previous Tests. They thrashed Canada 35-3, Scotland 54-10 and
Wales 56-10, the stiffest resistance coming in the 22-12 win over Ireland.

But England was outclassed tonight, and was clearly in for a torrid time from the second
minute, when Donnelly charged down a kick from five-eighth Matt Leek, regathered and raced 20
metres to score wide out.

Paul Warwick made the difficult conversion, and 15 minutes later it was 14-0 when he
converted after winger Martin Schleibs sprinted 60m to score, after Donnelly cleverly switched
play to put him through a gap.

A penalty to Leek made it 14-3 at the break, and two more reduced the leeway to 14-9 after
15 minutes of the second half.

However, Donnelly turned the game again just two minutes later, a clever one-two with
centre Junior Pelesasa creating space for the skipper to sprint over from close range.





[X][US ONLINE]

America Online profits triple

Profits at America Online Inc. more than tripled in the latest quarter, as America's
largest online service signed up another 1.6 million new customers.

AOL said Wednesday that it earned dlrs 121 million, or 22 cents per share, compared with
dlrs 33 million, or 6 cents per share, for the same quarter in 1997.

Revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31, its fiscal second quarter, was up 62 percent to dlrs
960 million, compared with dlrs 592 million last year.

The net earnings figures include an accounting adjustment that allowed the company to
deduct past losses from its tax bill, which raised net income.

Not including the adjustment, AOL earned dlrs 88 million, or 17 cents per share. That was
well above expectations of analysts surveyed by First Call Corp. who had predicted AOL would
earn 14 cents a share.

AOL, which has more than 15 million subscribers, plus 2 million with its subsidiary
CompuServe, is planning to buy Netscape Communications Corp. for dlrs 4.2 billion in a deal
expected to close this spring. The Netscape browser site draws 20 million visitors each
month.

"In 1998, the Internet truly came of age and became even more integral to people's everyday
lives," said Steve Case, chairman and chief executive officer. "We're excited about the
opportunities presented by our pending combination with Netscape as well as our alliance with
Sun Microsystems to drive the growth of this new medium."

During the quarter, the company launched AOL in Australia in a joint venture with
Bertelsmann AG and announced a joint venture with the Cisneros Group to develop and market AOL
services for Latin America.

Revenues from customers' online fees grew 61 percent to dlrs 779 million. Revenues from
advertising and online transactions rose 66 percent to dlrs 181 million.

KEYWORD: NETNEWS 1400

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