AAP Internet Bulletin 1830 Sunday Feb 14, 1999

AAP General News (Australia)
02-14-1999
AAP Internet Bulletin 1830 Sunday Feb 14, 1999

[A][POLLNSW POWER][NSW]

$1,000 lure for voters from sale

Every household in New South Wales will receive $1,000 cash or $1,100 in electricity shares
under an unprecedented coalition plan to boost its electoral stocks and sweeten privatisation
of the state's power industry.

Opposition Leader Kerry Chikarovski said the $2.6 billion payout would be the "consumer
dividend" from the planned $25 billion sale, the largest privatisation in Australia's history.

The sell-off would also allow the coalition to slash average household power bills by $300
over the next three years, embark on a $2.6 billion infrastructure program and fund generous
redundancy packages for power workers, Mrs Chikarovski said.

She denied voters would see the plan as an attempt to buy votes.

"What we are saying to them is that as people who've been involved in the electricity
industry for some time, who have contributed to the growth of the industry, they're entitled
to something from it," she told reporters.

Treasurer Michael Egan, himself a strong supporter of power privatisation before it was
rejected by the ALP in 1997, labelled it history's largest electoral bribe.

"We're not going to embark on a vote-buying splurge which is quite unprecedented, I
suspect, not only in the history of NSW and Australia, but I have never seen an electoral
bribe of this magnitude anywhere in the world," Mr Egan said.

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) national secretary John Maitland
said power prices would rise and thousands of jobs would be lost under the plan, particularly
in regional areas.

"People in these regions have already been hard hit by the policies of economic
rationalism. They need more employment opportunities not more job cuts in vital industries,"
he said.

Mrs Chikarovski said the sale would boost the state's economy and create 160,000 new jobs.





[T][GOLF AUST][GOLF]

Spence wins Masters

Victoria's Craig Spence choked back tears and beat off an Australian golfing legend to win
the Ericsson Masters at Huntingdale golf club in Melbourne today.

Spence fired a three-under par final round of 70 to win by a shot from Greg Norman.

The 24-year-old, playing on his home course, dropped a one metre birdie putt at the 72nd
hole to secure his first professional success.

He finished with a four-round total of 276, 16-under par.

Spence had been frustrated all day around the green, but kept his cool to hang on to a lead
he had taken on the first day of the tournament.

"What kept me strong down the home stretch was that I'd done all the hard work," Spence
said.

"I'd led all the way and I knew people would admire that, so I said 'just grind it out.'

"It was in front of my home crowd and I wanted it bad."

Spence and Norman had come to the final hole together at 15 under and both hit ideal
drives.

But the youngster, playing first, pulled off the shot of the tournament - a 176m four iron
to one metre.





[A][RONA BEATTIE][QLD]

Feds should pay $100m: Beattie

The federal government should kick in at least $100 million to a special disaster relief
fund to help rebuild areas devastated by recent natural disasters across the state, Queensland
Premier Peter Beattie said today.

Mr Beattie said today he had written to Prime Minister John Howard proposing a joint $300
to $500 million commonwealth/state Disaster Mitigation Fund for infrastructure improvement.

He said that, since the federal government introduced guidelines requiring all damaged
infrastructure be rebuilt to withstand natural disasters, it was only fair they should pay
their fair share for repairs and upgrades.

Under the proposal, local governments would get help to assess mitigation needs and set in
place appropriate strategies in a bid to minimise damage risks from future disasters.

Over time, this would mean reduced funding outlays from the Natural Disaster Relief
Arrangements (NDRA) funding, Mr Beattie said.

The state would match federal contributions dollar for dollar.

"It's an approach to try and save money in the future," Mr Beattie said. "I'm hoping that
the Commonwealth will put a sizeable amount of money into it.

"I mean, realistically, you can't just say to the states that we're going to have
oppressive or aggressive rules but we won't fund you to do it."

Mr Beattie said since July 1 last year, the clean-up bill from flooding had been around
$100 million.

He said it was still too early to assess the damage bill from last week's flooding in the
south-east corner and far north of the state, but the fund ideally would need to be kept at
around $500 million.





[S][SKI WORLD STEGGAL]

Steggall enjoys title afterglow

Zali Steggall produced the run of her life today to become Australia's first skiing world
champion but she caught organisers by surprise when they failed to find a version of Advance
Australia Fair and played the funeral march instead.

Steggall, the Olympic bronze medallist, stormed from sixth place to slalom gold at the
alpine world championships in Vail, Colorado in a knife-edge race that pushed the alpine
nations right off the podium.

The 24-year-old, who was only .13 seconds off the pace in sixth position following a
tightly bunched first run, nailed the bottom half of her second run and had a combined time of
1 minute, 33.97 seconds - an impressive .79 seconds ahead of Sweden's silver medallist
Pernilla Wiberg.

"After the first run I was just 13 hundredths out so basically I had nothing to lose,"
Steggall told AAP.

"There are no medals for sixth ... so I went for it, I just smoked it."

Steggall, from Manly on Sydney's northern beaches, said she was "stoked" with her new
title.

"I like the sound of that," she said when asked how it felt to be world champion.

"I'm pretty happy. It's been a pretty tough season. I've had a few ups and downs but I was
always skiing really great and it was nice to get it all together on the day it counts."

But Steggall was saved an emotional scene by the organisers' blunder.

"If they had played the anthem, I would have cried," said Steggall, who saw her flag raised
to the strains of an unfamiliar song.

"I don't know if it was the funeral march, I think it was an Eastern bloc anthem, it
sounded like it," Steggall said.

An embarrassed Gian-Franco Kasper, president of the International Ski Federation, said: "It
was absolutely ridiculous, we don't know what the problem was. This was inexcusable."

Steggall welcomed the apology and accepted an invitation to attend a second award ceremony
before the men's slalom tomorrow where the Australian anthem will be played.

"There was quite a big Aussie crowd around and they sang the anthem and tomorrow they (the
organisers) are going to get the right anthem," she said.

At the awards ceremony for her first World Cup win in Park City last season organisers were
also without Advance Australia Fair and played Waltzing Matilda.

"I've never had a medal presentation where they've played the national anthem," Steggall
said.





[I][YUGO KOSOVO][EUR]

Kosovo talks deadlocked, Serbs wait

Blamed for stalling Kosovo peace talks, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic faces two
unsavory choices: Accept self-rule for the province's ethnic Albanians, or wait for NATO's
bombs to drop.

"What Milosevic says will be crucial and carried out," said a Serb negotiator under orders
not to speak to the media on the record.

Serb negotiators were in disarray yesterday, awaiting instructions from Milosevic on
whether to stick to a hard-line position and face NATO strikes or start earnest negotiations
over a US-sponsored plan for Kosovo, said a senior US diplomat.

More than 2,000 people have been killed in a year of clashes in Kosovo between ethnic
Albanian separatists and Serbian security forces. The province is in southern Serbia, the
dominant Yugoslav republic. Ninety per cent of Kosovo's 2 million people are ethnic Albanian;
the majority want independence from Yugoslavia.

With a February 20 deadline for reaching an accord approaching, US Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright arrived in France yesterday to assess the talks that started a week earlier
in a 14th-century French castle in Rambouillet, about 50km from Paris.

State Department spokesman James Rubin said that Albright "is going to deliver very clear
and straightforward messages to both parties that it is time to get down to the business of
making the tough decisions".

Just outside the talks yesterday, an estimated 10,000 Kosovo Albanians, many of them bused
from other European countries, demonstrated, carrying flags and shouting "U-C-K, U-C-K", the
Albanian acronym for the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Several wore fatigues with KLA patches, and carried banners saying "We'll Give Up Our
Lives, but We Won't Give Up Kosovo" and "Milosevic Hitler".

In Kosovo, meanwhile, a bomb injured at least nine people outside a government-owned bank
yesterday.

As many as 20 shops were damaged in the afternoon blast just outside the Jugobanka bank in
Urosevac, 40km south of the provincial capital, Pristina.





[A][ATSIC UN][FED]

Native title discriminatory: report

The federal government's Native Title Amendment Act was racially discriminatory and failed
to comply with Australia's international treaty obligations, a new report is believed to have
found.

The report, to be released later this week, was commissioned by ATSIC and prepared by the
Indigenous Law Centre at the University of NSW, and is expected to centre on land rights.

It is also likely to raise the government's policies on heritage protection, criminal
justice issues, the stolen children report, threats to ATSIC and reconciliation.

It follows a government response last month to an official "please explain" from the United
Nations.

An Australian official will appear before the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (CERD) when it meets in Geneva next month to further explain how the Wik
amendments and other land rights policies complied with UN conventions.

Among its comments last August, CERD said it was deeply regrettable that institutions such
as the post of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Social Justice Commissioner were disappearing.

The government responded by defending its native title laws, saying they respected the
landmark Mabo decision and were the result of wide consultation.

ATSIC chairman Gatjil Djerrkura yesterday told the National Labor Lawyers' Conference in
Adelaide that the government report was misleading.

"A reading of the government report would have you believe indigenous Australians have
little to worry about," he said. "This is not our view."





[A][REPUBLIC HOWARD][FED]

Howard won't commit on preamble

Prime Minister John Howard would not give a commitment today on whether the question of a
new preamble to the constitution would receive unified government support at the November
referendum.

Republicans have warned that the preamble proposal, backed by Mr Howard, would not succeed
unless it had the firm support of the government.

But Mr Howard would again not commit himself on the issue which is expected to be put to
this week's party meeting.

"I want to talk this over with my colleagues," Mr Howard told Network Ten.

"I think there are a lot of people who think that it'd be a good thing if we could reach an
agreement to put a preamble in the constitution, which recognised a number of things,
including the prior occupation of the land mass of Australia by the indigenous people.

"I think recognition of God, the representative character of our democracy, the federal
system, the equality of people before the law and prior occupation, things like that."

But he said whether the preamble question would be put as a free vote or a government
proposition was still to be discussed.

"I told the (republic) convention, before we even started talking about preambles, that my
colleagues would all have a free vote on this whole republican thing, and I want to stick to
that," he said.

"And the preamble issue would never have come up, if it hadn't been for the debate about a
republic, so we'll work our way through that.

"I am simply not going to commit myself now, in advance of the discussion I have with my
colleagues, and we'll decide that in our own time."





[A][TOLL AUST][FED]

Road toll up at start of 1999

Australia's road toll appears to be on the rise, with latest figures showing the number of
people killed on the nation's roads was up slightly in January to 142.

Today's figures also show a dramatic increase in fatal motorcycle accidents, but fewer
cyclists are being killed.

The Federal Office of Road Safety's January bulletin shows the road toll was up by nine on
January last year, although it was still the third-best start to a year this decade.

Fatalities increased in four states - Tasmania, Queensland, New South Wales and in
particular South Australia, where the January road toll almost doubled to 19.

There were slight improvements in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory
and no change in the ACT.

Although the increase in the January road toll was only modest, the long-term trend shows
the road toll is on the rise, with 1,771 people killed in the past 12 months, a rise of 41 on
the previous 12 months.

The major factor behind the increase is a sharp rise in the number of motorcyclists and car
passengers killed over the past 12 months.

The good news though has been a sharp drop in the number of cyclists killed.

Federal Transport Minister John Anderson said the increase in the road toll showed more
needed to be done to change driver behaviour.

"I am deeply saddened that, despite a lower toll for Christmas/New Year period, the January
road toll has risen," Mr Anderson said in a statement.





[A][RYAN][NSW]

Ryan vows to continue police reforms

New South Wales Police Commissioner Peter Ryan today pledged to continue the fight against
"evil" police officers after his contract was extended until 2004.

Despite his ongoing crusade against corrupt officers, Mr Ryan conceded he could not deliver
a corruption-free police service for the state.

Premier Bob Carr today announced the British policeman would continue in the top job until
2004, ending speculation Mr Ryan intended leaving Australia in 2001.

"There are still challenges in terms of corruption, I can never give you a corruption free
police service, but I can give you a corruption resistant one," the commissioner said.

"Wherever corruption exists we are rooting it out and I think when we do root it out and
display these evil people before the court and the police integrity commission it shouldn't be
seen as a failure, it should be seen as a success."

Mr Ryan, who was first appointed in 1996 during the Wood Royal Commission, also said he
would do everything in his power to slash crime rates to 1994 levels.

"We set the target of bringing crime down to below '96 levels and many areas of the state
have actually done that and exceeded that and some areas are below 1994 levels," he told
reporters.

"I'd like to sharpen up those targets now so it's going to be universally '94 levels. If we
can get to '94 levels as a minimum, then I would be very happy indeed."

In the short term, Mr Ryan said his focus would be on planning for Sydney's 2000 Olympics.

"We need to make sure we're delivering a very safe and secure Olympic games, that's very
important for the next 18 months of my work," he said.





[A][NATION SA][SA]

Branches set to quit One Nation

One Nation members flagged mass resignations in South Australia this week after national
director David Ettridge failed to allay concerns about the party's structure.

Mr Ettridge flew to Adelaide this weekend to quell a grassroots revolt in the party and
respond to concerns about One Nation's draft constitution at a meeting of about 80 members
yesterday.

While predictions of a mass walkout did not come true, some senior members later accused Mr
Ettridge of "smooth talking" the meeting, saying he did not address their fears that too much
power was vested in the national executive.

They also predicted up to 75 per cent of the State's members would quit the party,
following state president John Powell and State secretary Paula Mauriello who resigned
yesterday.

But Mr Ettridge said he was not worried about the threat of mass resignations, saying it
was only a small minority behind the dissent.

"If they decide to leave, good riddance to them," he told AAP.

"I welcome it. I would like to see that happen because we will prosper once we get rid of
all those people."

He said two or three members with "a bee in their bonnet" were howled down by the rest of
the meeting yesterday after he explained that he, Pauline Hanson and David Oldfield would
stand for re-election at the party's annual general meeting on February 28.

But state vice president Gareth Jones, who is setting up One Nation's youth wing in South
Australia, said he was considering resigning from the party over the anti-democratic
structure.

"I'm tossing up my options at the moment and trying to work out which is the best. I'm this
close to quitting," he said.





[T][CUP NSW][CRIK]

NSW to host Cup semi-final

New South Wales thrashed Western Australia by 55 runs in the Mercantile Mutual Cup one-day
cricket match at the SCG today to secure a home ground semi-final next weekend.

Allrounder Shawn Bradstreet smashed an unbeaten 75 off 70 balls to lift NSW to 6-230, and
WA was bowled out for 175.

Openers Ryan Campbell and Justin Langer both made first ball ducks, as did Michael Slater
for NSW.

Captain Tom Moody played a lone hand of 61 as the Warriors missed the semi-finals for the
first time in over a decade.

NSW skipper Mark Taylor took four catches and a direct hit run out as WA crashed to 6-84
after 27 overs.

NSW will play Queensland at the SCG and in the other semi-final Victoria will host South
Australia.





[T][CUP TAS][CRIK]

Victoria beats Tassie in slogathon

Victoria has beaten Tasmania in a slogathon to take top position in the Mercantile Mutual
Cup one day cricket competition and a home semi final next week.

In a match shortened to 16 overs a side, Victoria cruised past Tasmania's 1-125 with three
overs to spare for the loss of three wickets with Ian Harvey notching the fastest half century
in the competition's history.

Harvey's 50 came up in 27 balls and with Brad Hodge he put on 107 in 56 balls.





[T][TRI AUST][CRIK]

Aussies ready for World Cup

Australia is heading for the West Indies in three days but it's the World Cup that's on the
mind of acting skipper Shane Warne following his side's demolition of England in the tri
cricket series.

The Aussies handed England its second heaviest defeat in a one day international, crushing
the tourists by 162 runs in the second final at the MCG last night, clinching the trophy in
'straight sets.'

It was the 12th time the Aussies had lifted the trophy since the tournament began 20 years
ago and the fifth time in six years, sounding a warning to World Cup rivals that Australia's
one day form is peaking at the right time.

Warne, who led the side brilliantly throughout the tournament in the absence of skipper
Steve Waugh, said after the win that Australia's World Cup preparations were on course.

"We are one of the best one day sides going around if we hit our straps," Warne said.

"We are starting to click as a one day side, our performances over the last 18 months have
been outstanding."

During that time Australia has won back to back tri series trophies and also beaten India
and Pakistan on the sub-continent, helping erase memories of the 1996 World Cup final loss to
Sri Lanka at Lahore.

Warne believes the side has a great chance of avenging that loss in this year's World Cup,
held in England from May 14 to June 20.

"I would say we are among the top three or four sides in the cup (contested by 12
nations)," he said.

"We are a really big chance if we can play the positive aggressive cricket we played in
this series."





[T][NSL CARLTON][SOC]

Carlton set to change hands

Carlton Soccer Club will have new owners, cash in the bank and will start working on a new
image before the week is out.

A syndicate with five primary investors, led by AFL player-manager Peter Jess, will take
control of the Ericsson Cup side by tomorrow at the earliest and set about turning the club
into a profit making concern.

The syndicate will eventually cut ties with the Carlton Football Club when current
sponsorships run out and will establish a new home base at Olympic Park next season.

Jess's syndicate, which also includes Cathy Freeman's manager Nick Bideau and Carlton SC's
general manager Lou Sticca, will pay up to $5 million to take over the club.

Soccer Australia won't make it any easier as the new owners, new venue and eventual name
change is being regarded as virtually a new club by the soccer authority.

As a result it will cost Carlton at least $500,000 for a licence to join the competition
next season.

The club also wants to establish itself as a feeder club for the European market, which
should ensure its financial stability.

But detractors will argue that it continues the player drain from the national soccer
league weakening the competition.

The new Carlton camp will argue just as doggedly that it will be offering the best
youngsters in Australia a stepping stone to the world's top competitions.

All parties are tied to a confidentiality clause, but it's understood that the deal has
been all but done.





[T][NBL][BASK]

Adelaide maintain NBL charge

Coach Phil Smyth has continued Adelaide's charge towards defending its national basketball
league title as the Sixers drew level in wins with season leader Melbourne Tigers.

The 89-70 success over Victoria Titans posted both leaders on 14 wins but Adelaide trail by
one loss as well as having played one more game.

In other weekend matches in the Mitsubishi Challenge, Sydney Kings beat Newcastle 109-100,
Perth defeated Wollongong 116-93, Canberra broke a losing streak in toppling Newcastle 106-93
and Brisbane accounted for West Sydney 100-86.

Adelaide skipper Brett Maher led his side in its demolition of the Victoria Titans who were
completely outclassed at both ends of the court.

The fired-up Sixers clearly stamped itself as the form side of the competition and cemented
second spot on the ladder.

Adelaide settled better under the pressure and raced to a 10-point lead in less than six
minutes, mainly due to some superb shooting from Maher, who scored eight of his team's first
10 points.

Maher also did a tight defensive job on Victorian guard Darryl McDonald, who did not score
a basket until five minutes into the second quarter when his team was already well behind.

Adelaide a 46-34 lead at half-time after Victoria had been completely shut out of the game
at the start of the first half by Adelaide's defence.

The Titans did not score a field basket until Wheeler scored a two-pointer with three
minutes left in the third term, Adelaide going on a 17-2 run to start the quarter and take an
unbeatable 25 point lead.

Brisbane Bullets, who are currently in fifth place, have set their sights on a top three
finish after disposing of West Sydney at Liverpool.



[I][THAI VALENTINE][ASIA]

Tough times take toll on Thai libido

Thailand's tough economic times have taken their toll on the love life of many Thais, with
surveys reporting reduced libido among married couples over the past year.

Gripped by the most severe recession in 50 years, a poll by the Suan Dusit college found
that more than 70 per cent of 4,554 married people surveyed acknowledged their love life had
waned.

The survey, reported in the Bangkok Post, came as road side sellers had their stalls in
place early Sunday offering Valentine Day gifts.

The marking of Valentines Day is a popular occasion in Thailand, if only to give a gift to
friend - male or female - to brighten their day.

But just 3.8 per cent of those surveyed said they had experienced more love in their
marriages in the past year, with almost 50 per cent feeling their love life had declined.

At the same time, just 5.42 per cent said sexual activity with their partners had increased
while, 58.21 per cent blamed the economic hardships for a reduction in their sexual appetite.

But while there has been evidence the mounting economic pressures have triggered more
marriage breakdowns, respondents to the survey - 45.17 per cent - said the highest goal in
their married life is love and warmth within the family.

In other revealing survey anecdotes, 28.48 per cent of the respondents said their married
lives began with love while 26.75 per cent began as a friendship.

But almost 20 per cent acknowledged their marriages were arranged by their parents, another
13.09 per cent described their love as coincidence, and 11.22 per cent admitted they had been
forced to wed.

KEYWORD: NETNEWS 1830

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