AAP Internet Bulletin 1500 Tuesday, Dec 1, 1998

AAP General News (Australia)
12-01-1998
AAP Internet Bulletin 1500 Tuesday, Dec 1, 1998



[A][NUCLEAR][FED]

Govt denies Australia to become nuclear waste dump

CANBERRA -The federal government today denied Australia was on the brink of
becoming an international nuclear waste dump.

The denial followed the release of a promotional video from US-based radioactive waste
management company Pangea Resources, which claims Australias barren landscape is ideal for
storing the hazardous material.

Pangea president James Voss said Australia and several other countries possessed geology
that was the best in the world for the long-term isolation of radioactive waste.

"So if Australia meets other social, legal, political tests, it may well be a candidate for
some future exploration," Mr Voss said.

Pangea had held discussions at a bureaucratic level on understanding regulatory processes
involved in Australia but had not spoken to anyone in government, he said.

"We have not sought any winks, nods or approvals, because thats something that only comes
in the public process," Mr Voss told ABC Radio.

"We think that those in industry that weve spoken to have expressed interest in Australia
doing the right thing for the world to help rid the world of nuclear weapons and nuclear
waste."

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) would be broadly
interested in any international repository in any country because it accomplished the broader
goal of removing plutonium from circulation, he said.

But a spokeswoman for Resources Minister Nick Minchin said Australia had no intention of
accepting nuclear waste from overseas and said there had been no ministerial level meetings.

"It is not government policy to accept nuclear waste from overseas countries and there is
no intention to change that policy," the spokeswoman told AAP.





[A][NATION HILL][FED][]

Court challenge launched against One Nations Heather Hill

SYDNEY - Sydney businessman Chuck Hong today launched legal action against One Nation
senate-elect Heather Hills eligibility for election because of her apparent failure to
renounce her British citizenship.

If successful, the challenge, launched this morning in the High Court by law firm Phillips
Fox, may lead to One Nations only federal parliamentarian being ousted, resulting in a
Queensland senate seat recount.

The Malaysian-born Mr Hong said he would fund the action along with the help of the Chinese
community and a number of "like-minded" supporters.

"The law is very clear on this issue," he told journalists here.

"When Heather Hill nominated herself as a senate candidate the law as it stood then and as
it stands now prohibited her from being eligible to do so."

He urged Mrs Hill to stand down voluntarily.





[A][MEDICARE KENNETT][VIC][KENNETT.JPG]

Axe 'silly' Medicare, says Kennett

MELBOURNE - Medicare was a silly and dishonest system which should be axed, Victorian
Premier Jeff Kennett said today.

Mr Kennett suggested that if the federal government wanted to keep Medicare it should take
over responsibility for public hospitals.

"It is in my opinion a dishonest system," he told a business breakfast.

"It would be much easier to insist that everyone who could afford it buy private health
insurance and that the government provide private health insurance to those who genuinely can't
afford it."

Mr Kennett said he had no idea why both federal political parties supported the Medicare
system as it barely attracted about five per cent of the cost of providing health care in
Australia.

"It is silly to have Medicare and then the states be responsible for hospitals," he said.

"If the government wants to keep Medicare then let them take control of public hospitals."

But he said the federal government did not want the "odium" associated with funding public
hospitals.

Mr Kennett's comments came in his response to a question about federal and state relations.





[A][RUSSIA TRAPPED RESCUE][NAT]

Helicopter arrives to rescue Siberian film-makers

MELBOURNE - A rescue helicopter has arrived to pick up a team of documentary film-makers,
including Australian Rory McGuinness, trapped on a frozen Siberian island.

The helicopter, sent by international medical emergency company AEA International SOS,
landed on the remote Vrangelya, also known as Wrangel Island, about 2pm AEDT today.

AEA International SOS spokesman Mark Crawford said Mr McGuinness, Tatsuhko Kobayashi, a
producer with NHK, Japan's largest state television network, and Russian scientist Nikita
Ovsyanikov were due back on the mainland at Pevek about 6pm AEDT.

"Theyre in fair spirits," Mr Crawford told AAP from his Sydney office.

"Theyre surviving of course, but they were down to their last three days of food - theyve
been in constant contact with their film-making company in New Zealand."

The trio have been trapped by ferocious Arctic weather since mid-October.

Mr Crawford said the helicopter arrived at Cape Blossom where the trio had been stranded
when the weather changed abruptly six weeks ago while they were making a documentary about
polar bears.





[I][Canada Quebec][northam][CANADA.JPG]

Separatists win re-election in Quebec

MONTREAL - Quebec's pro-independence government was re-elected Monday, an outcome that could
move Canada closer to another traumatic showdown over secession.

Early returns showed the governing Parti Quebecois and the anti-separatist Quebec Liberal
Party relatively close in popular vote.

But in 1994, when the two parties virtually tied in popular vote, the separatists won 77 of
the legislature's 125 seats to 47 for the Liberals. Television networks and other analysts
projected that the separatists, whose support is far more evenly spread than the Liberals, were
headed for a solid victory again.

With 20 percent of the polling stations reporting, the separatists had 44 percent of the
votes, to 41.5 for the Liberals and 12.5 for a third party, Democratic Action. The separatists
were on track to win about 76 legislative seats, and the Liberals about 48.

The victory was a personal triumph for Quebec's charismatic premier, Lucien Bouchard. He
plans to call another referendum on independence whenever he feels conditions are right for a
separatist triumph.

Bouchard's main rival was Liberal party leader Jean Charest, who tried to convince voters
that the province would prosper only if the decades-old threat of secession was abandoned.

Charest, 40, became an early favourite when he quit federal politics in March to enter the
Quebec race; in English-speaking Canada he was viewed as the potential saviour of national
unity.

But despite his family roots in Quebec, he was widely perceived by the province's
French-speaking majority as more of an outsider than Bouchard, and less likely to do battle for
the province in any confrontations with the federal government.





[F][BOPS][FED]

Howard says Australia still the strong economy of Asia

CANBERRA - Prime Minister John Howard today defended economic data out today, saying
Australia remained the strong economy of the Asia-Pacific.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the economy posted
its second highest quarterly current account deficit on record
in the three months to September.

The deficit blew out by $1.2 billion or 20 per cent to a
seasonally adjusted $7.3 billion in the September quarter, it
said.

In parliament, the federal opposition said the data
revealed the worst ever foreign debt figures on record. The
ABS said net foreign debt rose to $232.8 billion in the
quarter from $220.4 billion in the June quarter.

But Mr Howard said it was more relevant that the debt
servicing ratio - the capacity of the nation to service the
foreign debt - stood at 9.8 per cent.

"It is the lowest debt servicing ration in 14 and a half
years," he told question time.

"That is an indication of the capacity of the 1998
Australian economy to repay foreign debt.

"(And) the measure of our economic strength in the context
of foreign debt is the capacity of this nation to service this
foreign debt."

Mr Howard said the countrys economic credentials were
widely respected in Asia and throughout the world.

"We have turned the fortunes of the Australian economy
around," he said.





[A][TAX HOWARD][FED][]

Howard gives pep talk to coalition MP's

CANBERRA - Prime Minister John Howard today gave coalition MPs a pep talk on progress of the
governments agenda, ahead of tomorrows introduction of the GST legislation in parliament.

"It represents the biggest reshaping of the taxation system in Australia since federation,"
a coalition spokesman quoted Mr Howard as telling the party room meeting.

"Its taken the coalition government to do it.

"Its something which has been known for 25 years that has needed to be done and we are now
in the process of making this change."

Treasurer Peter Costello, who outlined government changes to the tax package to a party-room
briefing yesterday, said the GST legislation would highlight a choice between reform and
Labors wholesale sales taxes.

He told the meeting the GST plan would take taxes off exports.

Mr Howard also attacked the Australian Democrats over their stand against the $1.5 billion
non-means tested rebate for health insurance.

He said the Democrats would have to explain their decision to the Australian people.

"If the Democrats wanted to knock back a tax cut to middle Australia, let them explain it to
the people," he said.





[F][TELSTRA][][]

Telstra cuts charges on international and STD calls

SYDNEY - Telstra Corp Ltd is cutting international call rates by 15 per cent from December
28.

Australias largest telecommunications company is also cutting long distance rates by 15 per
cent from January 18 next year.

Telstra said the long distance pricing was expected to save customers $88 million a year.

"STD rates have fallen by 70 per cent in real terms over the last 15 years or by 35 per cent
over the last six years and international direct calls now cost half of what they did six years
ago in real terms," said Stuart Lee, Telstras managing director long distance.

The move comes as Telstra revamps its international presence.

Market players have previously questioned Telstras strategy, which over this decade has
been particularly focused on emerging markets rather than developed economies which Telstra is
fast realising it is better suited to serve.

Mr Pretty, speaking with reporters by telephone from Japan, said the company has now "turned
its attention to large markets, targeting Japan, Europe and the U.S., upgrading our profile and
investment profile in these countries".

Telstras largest offshore commitment to date is in Vietnam, where it has kicked in some
$200 million developing networks there.





[A][TOLL VIC SPEED][VIC][]

Slowing down will halve road toll: police

MELBOURNE - Victorian police believe the states road toll would be halved if drivers slow
down - and they would hide speed cameras to force drivers to stick to the limit.

Assistant Commissioner for Traffic George Davis said today speed had been a common
denominator in a recent spate of multiple fatal accidents which shocked the state.

He said if driver behaviour did not change, the road toll forecast for this year would be
392 people, compared to 377 last year. Already 359 people have died, 21 more than at the same
time last year.

"Long term Id like to see our road toll much lower, probably halved and the way to do that
in my view ... would be a change in speed behaviour amongst our driving community," Mr Davis
said.

"Im sure, if we can bring speed down by 10 kmh we can halve our road toll easily."

Mr Davis said only two per cent of drivers were detected speeding at speed camera sites, but
monitoring showed 15 per cent of drivers were speeding in other areas.

He said concealing the states 52 speed cameras would force drivers to keep to the limit.

"Its not so much of the penalty thats a deterrent but the expectation of being detected,"
Mr Davis told radio 3AW.

"We dont hide (the cameras) but we will because we have to get back to the early days of
the speed cameras ... when everyone slowed down.

"People now believe they can drive to avoid the speed cameras. Really what they should be
driving to avoid is the collisions and the injuries and the death.





[A][WOOL AWRAP VAILE][FED]

Fed govt announces wool marketing taskforce

CANBERRA - Agriculture Minister Mark Vaile today announced a taskforce to
investigate better ways to sell Australian wool after the board of the wool marketing body
AWRAP was dumped.

The dramatic move was decided in a vote of no confidence in the board of the Australian
Wool Research and Promotion Organisation at an angry annual meeting in Goulburn yesterday.

Mr Vaile said he had been advised that 74 per cent of registered wool taxpayers supported
the no-confidence motion, and announced interim arrangements.

"As a result the board has stood down and the (AWRAP) managing director, Adrian Kloeden,
will act as a caretaker until a new chairman is appointed by me within 30 days as required
under the act," he said in a statement.

"I propose to establish a future direction taskforce which will undertake a benchmarking
study of wool against its competitor fibres and review the structures for wool marketing and
promotion and research and development.

"The taskforce will also develop a strategic path for the industry to achieve its desired
outcomes."





[S][RUGBY NZ][RU][ALLBLKS.JPG]

All Blacks face Wallabies under lights at Eden Park

SYDNEY- Australia will play New Zealand in the first rugby Test under lights at Aucklands
Eden Park next year.

The historic July 24 match will be the first of only two Bledisloe Cup Tests in 1999 with
the return match in Sydney on August 28.

New Zealand faces five different opponents in a seven-match campaign for the World Cup,
including the four Tri Nations Tests and one against France.

Australia also has seven Tests before the World Cup in October, playing Ireland twice and
England once in the lead up to the Tri Nations opener against South Africa in Brisbane on July
17.





[X][INTERNET][][]

Australia and US agree to promote e-trade

CANBERRA - The United States and Australia today agreed to jointly promote electronic
commerce throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

This was a key point in a detailed agreement between Prime Minister John Howard and US
President Bill Clinton, which includes concessions on both sides.

The United States has agreed to relinquish what Australia has seen as undue American
influence in the key area of naming domains on the Internet.

This influences who gets the biggest and best sites on the net.

Australia, in turn, has agreed to apply industry standards to development on the Internet.

Early indications in Australia suggested that its conservative government would attempt a
more prescriptive approach, with legislation designed to regulate pornography in particular.

The two countries also agreed that third countries should not try to censor material on the
Internet merely because it is written in another country.

Although they were too polite to say so, this was directed at countries like China, in which
censorship is generally much tighter than in the West.

Australia and the United States also agreed to work together to develop secure payment
systems on the Internet.





[I][China-Dissidents][World]

Chinese detain dissidents in crackdown on party

BEIJING Chinese police have detained prominent dissident Xu Wenli and four others,
in a crackdown Xu's wife said Tuesday appeared aimed at crushing a budding opposition party.

About 20 police officers went to Xu's home Monday evening, took
him away and ransacked his apartment, seizing a computer, a fax
machine, address books, video tapes, a typewriter, more than 1,000
pages of documents and even a telephone, said his wife, He Xitong.

She feared that authorities were planning to charge and convict
Xu to end his campaign for an opposition party. Unlike previous
occasions when Xu was held only for short periods of time, police
produced an arrest warrant and a search warrant that identified him
as a criminal suspect, He said.

"Xu Wenli has already paid heavily for democracy. I understand
that he is ready to pay again," said his wife. "Xu Wenli won't give
up."

Xu, 56, is one of the most prominent, active democracy
campaigners left in China. He was jailed after the Democracy Wall
protest movement of the late 1970s and freed in 1993, having served
all but three years of a 15-year sentence, much of it in solitary
confinement.

As Xu was being detained, another prominent dissident, Qin
Yongmin and two other members of the would-be China Democracy Party
were taken away by police Monday from their homes in the central
city of Wuhan, a Hong Kong-based human rights group said.

A fifth member of the party, Lai Jinbiao, also was detained
Monday afternoon in eastern Hangzhou city after making a speech in
a public park demanding the ruling Communist Party carry out
political reforms, the Information Center of Human Rights and
Democratic Movement in China said.

Encouraged by China's recent signing of key U.N. human rights
treaties, dissidents in many parts of the country have since June
been trying to set up the China Democracy Party to challenge the
Communist Party's monopoly on power.

Authorities have rebuffed dissidents' requests to officially
register the party and detained many of its supporters, usually for
short periods. Despite police harassment, Xu, Qin and other
dissidents have continued their efforts, setting up local party
branches, taking party oaths and nominating people for party posts.





[I][BABE][][]

Babe sequel flops at US box office

LOS ANGELES - The expensive sequel "Babe: Pig in the City" flopped at the Thanksgiving
weekend box office against tough family-oriented competition in "A Bug's Life" and "The Rugrats
Movie," final figures showed Monday.

Produced for more than $US90 million, "Pig in the City" grossed just $US8.2 million over the
five-day weekend for a disastrous fifth-place debut. Its dismal performance came as Universal's
parent Seagram Co. ousted film division chief Casey Silver.

"A Bug's Life," meanwhile, did stellar business, grossing $US45.7 million to lead the North
American box office, while "The Rugrats Movie" collected $US27.4 million for second and "Enemy
of the State" had $US25.9 million for third. "The Waterboy" was fourth with $US19.6 million.

Universal's other recent underachiever, "Meet Joe Black," had $US8.1 million for sixth.

"I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" had $US6.4 million for seventh, "Home Fries" opened
to a disappointing $US5.3 million for eighth, "Ringmaster" debuted with $US5 million for ninth
and "Very Bad Things" did very badly with $US4.7 million for 10th.





[A][QUOKKA][WA]

Quokka soccer sends island authorities into despair

PERTH - Rottnest Island authorities were despairing today after five quokkas were killed by
drunken teenagers celebrating schoolies week.

One teenager could face a $10,000 fine after police saw him kick one of the small mammals
to death during the week-long celebrations at Western Australias most popular holiday spot,
in a practice known locally as "quokka soccer".

The other quokkas - tiny wallaby-like animals - were found dead from injuries, around the
main settlements on the small island.

Drunk and disorderly behaviour and two serious assaults also disappointed police, who
visited every unit on the island at the beginning of the week to discuss what kind of
behaviour would and would not be tolerated.

"I though we were going to have a good weekend with them (the schoolies) this year, but I
was very sadly mistaken," Rottnest officer-in-charge Sergeant Merv Lockhart told AAP.

KEYWORD: NETNEWS 1500

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