NSW:NSW ambo crashes, slides along road

AAP General News (Australia)
08-03-2011
NSW:NSW ambo crashes, slides along road

SYDNEY, Aug 3 AAP - An ambulance crashed and slid 85 metres along the road as it responded
to an emergency in northwest Sydney, police say.

The vehicle attempted to access a bus lane running down the centre of the M2 at North
Rocks about 10pm (AEST) on Tuesday.

It hit a median strip, crashing onto the passenger's side and slid along the road.

The 55-year-old driver and a 40-year-old passenger, both believed to be paramedics,
suffered only minor injuries.

Police have launched an investigation into the crash.

A second ambulance was sent to the original emergency call.

Witnesses have been asked to call Crime Stoppers on 180033300.

AAP mdg/jfm

KEYWORD: AMBULANCE

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW:Main stories in Thursday's papers

AAP General News (Australia)
04-07-2011
NSW:Main stories in Thursday's papers

SYDNEY, April 7 AAP - Main stories in Wednesday's Sydney newspapers.

The Daily Telegraph:

Page 1: At the click of a mouse, patients will soon be able to seek faster treatment
by finding out which emergency rooms have the shortest waiting times, under a radical
new overhaul of the NSW health system.

Page 2: The iconic red and yellow cap of volunteer surf lifesavers could disappear
from Australian beaches after officials raised concerns young members think they are uncool.

Page 3: Film director Steven Soderbergh has agreed he is the father of an Australian
baby girl and has consented to paying "reasonable" child support.

World: Highly radioactive water leaking into the ocean from the crippled Japanese nuclear
power plant was stopped yesterday, boosting efforts to contain the worst nuclear disaster
since Chernobyl 25 years ago.

Sport: A magistrate has been forced to backflip on a sentence handed down to Roosters
star Todd Carney for low-range drink driving. The magistrate gave him a suspended jail
sentence before realising that was, by law, too much. Carney was allowed to walk free
and will be allowed to continue driving.

MORE ct/sn

KEYWORD: MONITOR FRONTERS NSW

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED:Bosses given poor report card from staff

AAP General News (Australia)
12-17-2010
FED:Bosses given poor report card from staff

Eds: Embargoed until 0001 (AEDT) Friday, December 17



By Colin Brinsden

CANBERRA, Dec 17 AAP - Businesses suffering from a shortage of skilled staff could
find matters getting worse because of poor management and an exodus of staff in 2011,
a financial services consultant warns.

A survey by recruitment firm Robert Half found 40 per cent of employees described the
management skills of their direct boss as average or substandard.

But in many cases the bosses thought they were doing a good job, with nearly 40 per
cent of managers saying they consistently lead by example, while just 20 per cent of employees
agreed.

Slightly more bosses said they consistently showed interest in their staff's problems,
but only 23 per cent of workers agreed.

Likewise, a third of managers believed they set realistic goals, but only 17 per cent
of employees agreed.

And while 22 per cent of bosses said they inspired their team, only 17 per cent of
those teams said they were on board.

"Facing up to professional flaws can be a blow to the ego for many managers," Robert
Half director Kevin Jarvis said, releasing the survey findings on Friday.

"Taking steps to improve management skills is crucial to employee retention in the
current market."

The survey of 345 Australian finance, accounting and HR professionals also found 42
per cent of employees would leave if they thought another company had a better management
structure.

"If issues between staff and management are not resolved, many organisations could
see staff leaving in the New Year," Mr Jarvis said.

Firms must employ better management training, while discussing realistic goals with
their staff and setting up effective methods to address staff problems, he said.

AAP cb/rl/psm/cdh

KEYWORD: BOSSES EMBARGOED

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED:Abbott accused of $7 billion gaffe

AAP General News (Australia)
08-09-2010
FED:Abbott accused of $7 billion gaffe

By Karlis Salna

CANBERRA, Aug 9 AAP - Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has been accused of a $7 billion
blunder over the coalition's election spending commitments, opening the door for Labor
to attack his ability to manage the economy.

As the nation's finances continued to be the focus of the campaign on Monday, Mr Abbott
and his treasury spokesman Joe Hockey appeared to be at odds over the coalition's expenditure
plans.

Mr Abbott, during a morning radio interview, insisted that the coalition's spending
commitments would total less than $18 billion.

"We've identified, including the mining tax, something like $28 billion of cuts to
recurrent spending ... that's still about $18 billion worth of reductions in recurrent
expenditure," he told ABC Radio.

"And our promised expenditure is well under that."

But during a debate on the economy with Treasurer Wayne Swan just hours later at the
National Press Club in Canberra, Mr Hockey said the coalition's "promised expenditure"

totalled more than $25 billion.

"I can say to you emphatically so far this election campaign we have announced expenditure
of $25.733 billion. We have announced savings of $28.534 billion," Mr Hockey said.

Labor seized on the confusion, with Mr Swan saying it cast serious doubts over Mr Abbott's
economic credentials.

"This is a $7 billion gap between the two figures, a $7 billion gap which creates serious
doubts about their judgment and their capacity to manage an economy," Mr Swan said.

Mr Abbott later rejected the suggestion there was a contradiction.

"It's both in a sense," he said.

"Joe's figure of $25 billion included a $10 billion tax cut," Mr Abbott said, referring
to revenue that would be lost by the coalition's decision to dump Labor's mining tax,
which it considers an expenditure.

The development came as Mr Abbott again rejected Prime Minister Julia Gillard's challenges
to a debate on the economy, and as former Liberal treasurer Peter Costello came to Mr
Abbott's defence.

Mr Costello has demanded Labor pull a campaign ad in which he is featured scoffing
at Mr Abbott's economic knowledge.

Mr Abbott and Ms Gillard are set to take part in a town hall meeting at the Rooty Hill
RSL Club in Sydney's western suburbs where they will field questions from 200 undecided
voters.

"When I said I would debate Tony Abbott on the economy he said his campaign arrangements
were locked in and he couldn't put the debate into his diary," Ms Gillard said.

"Well, as it turns out, both of us will be in the same place at the same time in Sydney
on Wednesday night."

At the National Press Club, the debate on the economy was fought on familiar lines,
with Mr Swan defending the stimulus and attacking the coalition's failure to submit its
policies to Treasury for costing.

Mr Hockey said the coalition would submit all its policies for costing "before polling day".

"We will not go down the path of lodging tens or hundreds of policies 12 hours or 24
hours before election day."

In 2007, Labor did not submit most of its costings until the final week of the campaign.

Regardless of the confusion over the coalition's spending commitments, Mr Hockey said
the opposition was still ahead of Labor in terms of savings.

"So far we have $2.8 billion of net savings on the announced policies. That indicated
we're $2.8 billion ahead of Labor."

Both Labor and the coalition also maintain they will return the budget to surplus by 2012/13.

However, while Labor has predicted a surplus of $3.5 billion in 2012/13, the coalition
is yet to nominate a figure.

Mr Abbott, campaigning in Brisbane, said the coalition would deliver a surplus much
greater than that forecast by Labor.

"I will announce well before polling day what we believe the budgetary outcome for
2012/13 will be," he said.

"What I say at the moment is it will be significantly larger than that achieved by
the government because you just can't trust this government not to see blowout after blowout."

AAP kms/apm

KEYWORD: POLL10 ECONOMY WRAP (PIX AVAILABLE)

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Third suspected assylum boat intercepted

AAP General News (Australia)
12-31-2009
Vic: Third suspected assylum boat intercepted

Border authorities have intercepted their third suspected asylum seeker boat this week.

A customs vessel intercepted the vessel yesterday carrying 48 passengers and four crew
.. west of the Ashmore Islands.

Home Affairs Minister BRENDAN O'CONNOR says the group will be transferred to Christmas Island.

AAP RTV df/wz/tm

KEYWORD: BOAT (MELBOURNE)

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Evening, Aug 18

AAP General News (Australia)
08-18-2009
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Evening, Aug 18
Evening Round-Up: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 1630


VSU Vote (CANBERRA)

Uni students won't be forced to pay compulsory service fees .. with the Senate voting
down the legislation today.

Labor was pushing to introduce a 250 dollar a year fee to help fund child care .. sport
.. cultural .. welfare and advocacy services on campuses.

The Howard government made the fee voluntary .. saying students were forced into unionism.



Bushfires Vic Towns (MELBOURNE)

Fire protection will be urgently ramped up at more than 50 tinder-dry townships in
Victoria declared high risk this summer.

Authorities have released a hit list of 52 vulnerable towns and suburbs that will be
subject to enhanced township protection plans.

The areas most at risk include the southwest coast around Lorne and the Otway Ranges
.. areas in and around Bendigo .. the suburban fringe of Melbourne .. and the Dandenong
Ranges.

Country Fire Authority boss RUSSELL REES says each township will be part of new fire
protection measures .. including improved access roads and refuges.

After a record 13-year drought .. summer is expected to be even more perilous than
last season and the Black Saturday firestorm that killed 173 people.

Meanwhile .. Victoria's opposition leader TED BAILLIEU says the state government must
accept responsibilities for policy failures in the lead up to the Black Saturday bushfires.



Caucus (CANBERRA)

KEVIN RUDD's predicting an increasingly bitter battle with the coalition over the government's
emissions trading legislation.

The prime minister's used Labor's weekly caucus meeting today to congratulate Climate
Change Minister PENNY WONG and Assistant Climate Change Minister GREG COMBET for their
work on the bills.

But Mr RUDD's told caucus the battle between the government and the coalition over
the ETS will get worse because of divisions within the coalition over climate change.

He's also told Labor MPs to consult their electorates over the government's proposed
health reforms and report back to a special caucus meeting later this year.



Climate ACCI (CANBERRA)

A leading business group's warned governments could use emissions trading schemes as
covers for protectionism .. a move which would have dire consequences for Australia.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is concerned Australia's free trade
agreements could be jeopardised by the global climate change agenda.

KEVIN RUDD raised initial concerns when he warned a business dinner yesterday it could
expect tariffs on imports if Australia didn't legislate an emissions trading scheme.

ACCI acting chief executive GREG EVANS says it would be cruel if a basically free-trading
country like Australia faced punitive tariffs because of an ETS.



James Hardie Fund (SYDNEY)

James Hardie says it understands concerns about its ability to meet asbestos compensation
claims amid company plans to move its headquarters from the Netherlands to Ireland.

But chairman MICHAEL HAMMES has told a shareholders' meeting in Sydney .. the move's
to ensure the company's long-term prosperity.

Shareholders will vote later this week on the first stage of the proposal .. which
is estimated to cost close to 90 million dollars.

At the same time James Hardie has said it can't guarantee it'll make contributions
to the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund due to the impact of the US housing downturn
on cashflow.



Polygraph (SYDNEY)

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has officially launched an investigation
into the lie-detector stunt on 2Day FM's KYLE and JACKIE O Show.

It will determine whether the station breached the code of decency under the Commercial
Radio Codes of Practice 2004.

ACMA could impose licence conditions requiring 2Day FM to implement measures to prevent
more breaches.

KYLE SANDILANDS and JACKIE O hit the airwaves again today after a 15-day break following
public outrage over their disastrous stunt where a 14-year-old girl was strapped to a
lie detector and quizzed about her sexual history.

SANDILANDS has admitted the stunt was a complete disaster but they were trying to help
a desperate mother who was worried sick about her daughter and had nowhere else to turn.



Veterans (SYDNEY)

Australia's war veterans are calling on the federal government to help find Vietnam's
fallen soldiers.

Today marks Vietnam Veteran's Day .. with commemorations being held around the nation
to remember about four hundred soldiers killed in the war.

NSW Vietnam Veterans Association president CLIVE MITCHELL-TAYLOR says the last two
Australian soldiers who were missing in battle have been found and are being repatriated
on August 31.

But .. he says .. thousands of Vietnam soldiers are still missing.

He says the Australian Defence Academy is compiling a database of burial locations
of three thousand 800 Vietnamese soldiers .. but the Australian government has knocked
back a 32 thousand dollar grant for the project.



Detention (CANBERRA)

Serious concerns have been raised about the standard of accommodation at immigration
detention facilities .. prompting calls for detainees to be placed in residential housing.

A federal parliamentary inquiry's found many detention centres also have disproportionate
and antiquated security measures.

The Joint Standing Committee on Migration's recommended the reconstruction of Stage
1 at Villawood in Sydney proceed as a priority .. and the Perth detention centre be replaced
with a purpose built long-term facility.

It's also recommended barbed wire fencing be removed from all immigration detention
centres .. and improved transparency including giving the media greater access to all
immigration detention facilities.




Briefly in other news ..



NZ Wine (AUCKLAND)

Australians are guzzling more of New Zealand's prized sauvignon blanc and pinot noir
than ever before .. and are paying less for the privilege thanks to a wine glut.



SuperGP (BRISBANE)

The Gold Coast's new-look SuperGP event has lost its naming sponsor.



in Sport ..



Tri Aust (SYDNEY)

GEORGE SMITH will captain a Wallabies team featuring three changes against the All
Blacks at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.

In the absence of injured captain STIRLING MORTLOCK, ADAM ASHLEY COOPER moves to outside
centre, allowing 19-year-old JAMES O'CONNOR to play at fullback in his first start in
a Bledisloe Cup Test.

Enforcer ROCKY ELSOM makes his long-awaited comeback to the Wallabies on the blindside
flank after overcoming the knee injury he brought back from his successful club stint
in Europe.

And RICHARD BROWN shifts from the side to the back of the scrum at the expense of WYCLIFF
PALU in the other change from the team which lost to South Africa in Cape Town at its
last start.



AFL Swans (SYDNEY)

Veteran Sydney defender LEO BARRY has confirmed he will retire at the end of this AFL season.

The 32-year-old BARRY played his first senior match of the year last weekend in the
Swans' narrow loss to Geelong and says his injury-plagued season made his decision easier.

BARRY has played 235 matches - all for the Swans - in an AFL career which started in
1995 and will always be remembered for his spectacular mark in the dying seconds of the
2005 Grand Final to save the match for his team.



ENDS EVENING ROUND-UP

Broadcast Desk inquiries 24 hours: 02 9322 8714

AAP RTV wf/crh

KEYWORD: EVENING ROUND-UP

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Jackman heartbroken over leaked X-men film

AAP General News (Australia)
04-08-2009
Jackman heartbroken over leaked X-men film

Actor HUGH JACKMAN says he's heartbroken his new movie .. X-Men origins: Wolverine
.. was leaked on the internet.

He says watching the unfinished leaked film is like a Ferrari without a paint job.

He says the leak is a serious crime and the FBI is investigating.

JACKMAN made the comments today on Cockatoo Island in Sydney harbour .. where unveiled
20 minutes of completed footage from the film to about 600 fans and media.

AAP RTV acb/dl/ka

KEYWORD: WOLVERINE (SYDNEY)

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Della Bosca rejects the idea of breath-testing pollies

AAP General News (Australia)
12-04-2008
NSW: Della Bosca rejects the idea of breath-testing pollies

SYDNEY, Dec 4 AAP - A proposal for NSW politicians to be breath tested before they
vote on legislation in parliament has been dismissed by state Health Minister John Della
Bosca.

Under the proposal, breath-test kits would be made available on a voluntary basis to
MPs wanting to check their blood alcohol levels before they turn up for late night votes,
The Daily Telegraph says.

The idea has received support from Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell, Greens MPs Lee
Rhiannon and John Kaye and Speaker Richard Torbay, it says.

But Mr Della Bosca opposed the plan on Thursday, saying "random breath testing is inappropriate
for certain types of workplaces".

"My view is that you should always be sober, and careful and clearheaded on the job,
especially in a job like parliament, (or) the judiciary," he told Macquarie Radio.

"You need to be very restrained in your habits, or abstaining altogether."

Mr Della Bosca said that in his ten years in parliament he had "very seldom" seen MPs
in the house who had had too much to drink.

"I'd like to say never," he said.

However, he defended MPs of all stripes, saying most worked hard for their electorates.

"The vast majority of people are here, and out in their electorates, working hard trying
to do their best for the people of NSW," he said.

"Frankly, it is a bit sad that the good work done by a lot of people representing parliament
is undermined by a few bad practices."

Premier Nathan Rees has also refused his support for breath testing, saying MPs were
adults and needed to be responsible for their actions.

The breath testing proposal follows the forced resignation of Nationals MP Andrew Fraser
from the opposition's front bench after he pushed Nationals MP Katrina Hodgkinson during
a heated exchange he was having with Labor MP John Aquilina in the lower house on Tuesday
night.

AAP ab/wjf/ldj

KEYWORD: FRASER BREATH DELLA

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Motorola and Widevine Ink Global Reseller Pact

Wireless News
05-07-2008
Motorola and Widevine Ink Global Reseller Pact

WIRELESS NEWS-May 7, 2008-Motorola and Widevine Ink Global Reseller Pact (C)2008 10Meters - http://www.10meters.com

Widevine Technologies announced it has signed a global reseller agreement with the Home and Networks Mobility Division of Motorola.
The agreement enables Motorola to sell, service and support Widevine's downloadable conditional access and digital rights management products globally.

Motorola offers head-end and consumer device solutions while Widevine Cypher, a downloadable conditional access, digital rights management and digital copy protection solution, enables video operators to acquire and securely distribute premium multimedia from major Hollywood studios and broadcasters. Currently, Motorola and Widevine jointly support over fifty video service providers worldwide.

"Our partnership simplifies an operator's business decision regarding two critical components required for a successful video operation," says Doug Light, Widevine's Vice President of Business Development. "With our legacy of strong integrations at operators globally and now with our expanded partnership, Widevine and Motorola can continue to help operators get to market faster and realize their content acquisition, subscriber and revenue objectives with a comprehensive video platform that is pre-integrated and pre- tested to help ensure deployments are reliable, scalable and secure."

The joint solution includes Motorola's consumer devices, compression and infrastructure solutions for video delivery and Widevine Cypher which enables telco, cable, Internet, mobile and satellite service providers to support an unlimited number of subscribers and assets using a single content security solution for protecting delivery to all major consumer devices -- including set- top boxes, PVRs and PC-based consumer devices.

"Service operators are increasingly looking to system integrator partnerships for managing the end-to-end implementations of their video solutions. Widevine's relationships with all the major system integrators enables operators to select best-of-breed components and partners that best meet their business requirements, while reducing the overall complexity and time-to-market of their video service offerings," says Yoav Schreiber, Current Analysis' Senior Analyst for Digital Media.

((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))

((Distributed via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com))

(Copyright M2 Communications Ltd. 2008)

Tas:Man dies after being pulled from waters off Tasmania's coast

AAP General News (Australia)
12-28-2007
Tas:Man dies after being pulled from waters off Tasmania's coast

Police say a man believed to be in his mid-20s has died after he was pulled from a
rip .. along with four others .. off Tasmania's north-east coast today.

Paramedics and police were called to an isolated area north of St Helens about 12.30
(AEDT) this afternoon .. where five people were caught in the rip in Ansons Bay.

Police say all five have been pulled from the water in a rescue involving police ..

ambulance officers .. locals and national parks staff.

Paramedics' attempts to resuscitate one man were unsuccessful and he died a short time later.

Police are attempting to identify the man .. who's thought to be a tourist.

AAP RTV md/mh/tm/sw

KEYWORD: DROWN (HOBART)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 14:45, Aug 20 =2

AAP General News (Australia)
08-20-2007
HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 14:45, Aug 20 =2

LOS ANGELES - Nicole Kidman has suffered a super bad weekend at the North American
box office. (US Movies Kidman)

SYDNEY - Product liability lawyers have questioned why the banned drug Prexige was
available at higher doses and with fewer warnings in Australia compared to other countries.

(Prexige, to come)

SYDNEY - Scientists have successfully turned female mice into males in a bid to better
understand sexual development disorders in humans. (Chromosome, to come)

MELBOURNE - Drug users who can't kick the habit can blame a dysfunctional brain for
their addiction, according to new research. (Brain)

PORT MORESBY - Renowned Australian scientist Tim Flannery says developed nations helped
cause global warming so they must help communities in countries like Papua New Guinea
to preserve their forests. (PNG Flannery)

CANBERRA - Federal independent MP Peter Andren says doctors have told him his pancreatic
cancer is inoperable. (Andren)

CANBERRA - Prime Minister John Howard will consider whether there is a case for additional
recognition for Australian troops who fought at the Battle of Long Tan. (Longtan )

CANBERRA - A defence team is in Vietnam to help the search for the remains of one of
four Australians missing since the Vietnam war. (Gillespie )

SYDNEY - The NSW government has unveiled a new water cannon that it says it will use
against any violent protesters at next month's APEC summit in Sydney. (APEC Cannon. N/L
to come)

SYDNEY - Labor's broadband plan is an undeliverable promise intended to help it sneak
home in the federal election, Communications Minister Helen Coonan says. (Broadband Coonan)

SYDNEY - The federal government wants an answer from the Tasmanian cabinet as soon
as possible over the financial rescue of Mersey Hospital in the state's north-west, Health
Minister Tony Abbott says. (Mersey)

SYDNEY - Storms that drenched Sydney and forced road closures around the city will
batter the NSW north coast over the next few days, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says.

(Rain NSW. N/L to come.)

SYDNEY - Every new parent in Australia over the next two years will receive a free
five-hour interactive DVD of parenting tips. (Parenting)

SYDNEY - A man has been charged over the fatal stabbing of a 37-year-old man on a Newcastle
suburban street, police say. (STABBING CHARGE. N/L to come)

SYDNEY - Former ASIO boss dennis Richardson at Sydney Institure from 6pm.

MELBOURNE - Confectionery chain Darrell Lea will face up to $360,000 in penalties if
found guilty of bullying staff into signing Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs). (Darrell.

N/L to come.)

MELBOURNE - By-elections will be held on September 15 for the seats vacated by former
Victorian Labor premier Steve Bracks and his deputy John Thwaites, who both quit politics
last month. (Byelections Vic)

MELBOURNE - Timber giant Gunns Ltd has settled with former Wilderness Society chief
Russell Hanson in its legal action against environmentalists over a Tasmanian pulp mill,
reducing the number of defendants to 14. (Gunns Court)

BRISBANE - A joyride at a party ended in tragedy when a young man fell off the back
of a ute and died after the driver swerved the vehicle as a joke, a court has been told.

(Hogan to come).

BRISBANE - Rainfall across Queensland's south-east over the weekend and today will
delay the introduction of level six water restrictions by a week or two. (Rain Qld. Water
N/L to come.)

BRISBANE - Police have charged a teenage boy over a violent incident at a Queensland
school in which a parent was stabbed and a police officer and teacher injured. (School)

BRISBANE - Queensland's lowest wage earners deserve a pay increase of $28-a-week from
next month, according to a submission by unions to the Queensland Industrial Relations
Commission. (Wage. N/L to come)

BRISBANE - An Indian heart surgeon has been cleared of allegations of bullying junior
doctors at Townsville Hospital after a nine-month investigation. (Virdi)

BRISBANE - Brisbane airport has a new squad of uniformed police to strengthen the gateway's
ability to deal with terrorism threats and perform general police duties. (Airport. N/L
to come)

DARWIN - The Northern Territory government has announced a $286 million plan to tackle
Aboriginal disadvantage, in its official response to the child abuse report that prompted
federal intervention. (Indigenous Martin)

PERTH - Items from the gravesite of murdered West Australian Supreme Court registrar
Corryn Rayney will be tested this week as police continue their hunt for her killer. (Rayney)

PERTH - A corruption probe resumes into the investigation and murder prosecution of
wrongly convicted Andrew Mallard. (To come, on merit.)

HOBART - The Wilderness Society has branded as a "cop-out" federal Environment Minister
Malcolm's Turnbull's "heavily conditional" approval of Tasmania's controversial pulp mill
proposal. (Pulp Tas)

ADELAIDE - Federal Labor has promised to extend South Australia's boom in defence work
by building a new generation of submarines in Adelaide. (Submarines)

ADELAIDE - The South Australian government would be mad not to take up the prime minister's
$100 million offer to duplicate Adelaide's one-way Southern Expressway, the Liberals say.

(Freeway)

ADELAIDE - A 23-year-old man who managed to drive his car on three wheels for more
than 25km has been charged with various traffic offences. (Wheels)

AAP sp

KEYWORD: HIGHLIGHTS NATIONAL 2 SYDNEY

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Parents relieved at sentence for son's killing

AAP General News (Australia)
04-04-2007
NSW: Parents relieved at sentence for son's killing

By Kim Arlington

SYDNEY, April 4 AAP - A Sydney couple released on good behaviour bonds after killing
their disabled son were enormously relieved at the decision, their barrister said today.

Prosecutors had called for jail terms for Margaret and Raymond Sutton, who were sentenced
in the NSW Supreme Court after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of their 28-year-old
son, Matthew.

However, Justice Graham Barr placed the pair on five-year good behaviour bonds, saying
there was no community interest in seeing them jailed.

The Suttons, who suffered from depression and stress, were affected by an "abnormality
of mind" at the time of Matthew's death, Justice Barr said.

It would be "cruel" to imprison them, as the pair depended on each other for support
and could only receive the psychiatric treatment they needed in the community, Justice
Barr said.

Matthew Sutton, who was blind from birth and intellectually disabled, died at his parents'
home at Leonay, on Sydney's western outskirts, on April 22, 2001.

The following day he was to have undergone surgery that would likely have robbed him
of his hearing and sense of taste.

In a previous statement to the court, Mrs Sutton asked: "How could we subject our precious
son to what was ahead?"

"He had been through so much ... he was such a brave soul.

"So with all the love we had for Matti, we borrowed from his strength and courage and
released him from any more pain and suffering."

The court heard Mrs Sutton gave her son a sedative before her husband - in his own
words - "released Matthew from this world".

A post-mortem failed to establish what killed him.

Justice Barr said the couple had devoted their lives to caring for their son and "even
the last act was one born of love for him".

"They believed that what they did was right. Of course, it was not."

However, the judge said "nothing that the court can do by way of sentence can add to
the offenders' suffering".

"The need for further punishment is spent," he said.

Mr Sutton, 63, sat with his arm around his 60-year-old wife during the judgment.

Both were embraced by tearful family and friends after learning their fate.

The Suttons did not comment outside court but their barrister, Tony Bellanto, QC, said
the decision was "an enormous relief".

"They'll live with what's happened for the rest of their life, of course, and that's
a sentence in itself," he told reporters.

"They've been living with stress, depression, hardship for 30-odd years now.

"They want to get on with their life ... and live for the memory of Matthew, who will
always be with them."

It was an exceptional and emotional case, Mr Bellanto said, but "fortunately it was
a judgment filled with compassion and understanding and mercy".

AAP ka/was/cp/de

KEYWORD: SUTTON LEAD (PIX AVAILABLE)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: NSW Premier Iemma promises to do all he can to help Rudd

AAP General News (Australia)
12-04-2006
Fed: NSW Premier Iemma promises to do all he can to help Rudd

NSW Premier MORRIS IEMMA'S promised to do everything he can to help new federal Labor
leader KEVIN RUDD win the next federal election.

Mr IEMMA says Mr RUDD and new deputy JULIA GILLARD have been given an incredible responsibility.

He's also praised dumped leader KIM BEAZLEY .. saying he's served the Australian people
and the Labor party with enormous distinction.

Mr IEMMA had supported Mr BEAZLEY in today's caucus ballot .. won 49-39 by Mr RUDD.

AAP RTV pj/hn/wf/bart

KEYWORD: LABOR IEMMA (SYDNEY)

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Workers dedicate day to trapped miners

AAP General News (Australia)
04-28-2006
NSW: Workers dedicate day to trapped miners

Eds: Embargoed until 0500 AEST on Friday, April 28



SYDNEY, April 28 AAP - Workers across NSW will today pause to pay their respects to
the miner killed and his two colleagues still missing in the Beaconsfield gold mine in
Tasmania.

Rescuers were last night frantically digging a new tunnel in a fresh bid to reach two
miners missing, after one of their mates was found dead.

But with the tunnelling expected to take up to three days, hopes were fading for the
two men unaccounted for after the miners were trapped by rock falls at the mine on Tuesday
night.

A vigil for the three will today be held during services in Sydney to mark the International
Day of Mourning in the Workplace.

Unions NSW had decided to dedicate the day to the Tasmanian miners, NSW president of
the Australian Workers Union (AWU) Mick Madden said.

"This is a reminder that even in the 21st century, workers face dangers just to make
a living," he said.

"The terrible accident in Tasmania is sadly not a one off.

"Hundreds of workplace deaths continue to occur in Australia - from accidents on building
sites and farm accidents, to the relentless scourge of asbestos-related illnesses."

AAP af/pe/de

KEYWORD: MINE VIGIL (EMBARGOED)

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coven

coven. In medieval English, this word, a variant of ‘convent’ and derived from Latin conventus, ‘assembly’, had no link to witches; it meant either a gathering of people (number unspecified), or a community of thirteen monks and their abbot, modelled on Christ and his apostles. However, in Scotland from about 1500 it was occasionally applied to a witches' meeting, possibly by association with the similar-sounding word ‘covin’, meaning a plot or a group of plotters; in 1662 a Scottish witch, Isobel Gowdie, said in her confession that ‘ther is threttein persones in ilk coeven’. A second example of this usage occurs in the deposition of a Northumbrian girl called Anne Armstrong, a witness in a witch trial in 1673; she spoke of witches attending the sabbath in ‘coveys’ of thirteen ( Sharpe, 1996: 279). The term remained rare until it was picked up by Sir Walter Scott in his Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft, 1830.

In 1922 Margaret Murray launched the theory that witches were always organized in groups of thirteen where the leader impersonated the Devil, and alleged that trial records showed several such groups, including five in England. When checked by historians, her figures turned out to be wrong; she had manipulated information in her sources to achieve the desired number. Though the idea of organization by covens is now rejected by scholars as unhistorical, it is widely taken for granted in fiction and journalism; it is also central to the organization of the Wicca movement.