Highlights of the AAP National Wire at 15:30, Feb 15 =2 Sydney

AAP General News (Australia)
02-15-1999
Highlights of the AAP National Wire at 15:30, Feb 15 =2 Sydney

CANBERRA - Consumers would benefit from further privatisation of Telstra and their
interests should be put first, the national phone carrier told a Senate inquiry today.
(TELSTRA)



CANBERRA - Australian Democrats Leader Meg Lees today downplayed differences between her
party and the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) over how to exempt food from the
GST. (TAX ACOSS, TAX N/L to come)

CANBERRA - More than 30,000 tip offs about tax evaders were not being followed up because
of Australian Tax Office staff cuts, according to a public sector union. (ATO)



CANBERRA - Government MPs meet this week to decide on the fate of a proposed preamble to
the constitution, with Prime Minister John Howard warning them not to go too far or risk
losing public support. (REPUBLIC DAYLEAD)



CANBERRA - Increasing soil and water salinity was wiping out a football field an hour of
farmland in Western Australia alone, scientists warned today. (SALINITY)



CANBERRA - The federal opposition today gained support from some government MPs for a
separate inquiry into the effects of British nuclear testing on Australian servicemen.
(NUCLEAR)



CANBERRA - Closing the electoral rolls within three days of a federal election being called
could deny 80,000 new voters their rights, the federal opposition said today. (REGISTRATION)



BRISBANE - The wing flaps were in the landing position on a light aircraft that crashed at
the Maroochydore airport last month while attempting to regain height, killing the two
passengers and seriously injuring the pilot, an investigation has been told. (CESSNA)



BRISBANE - The Labor Party has vowed to press for a Senate inquiry into Brisbane Airport
Corporation (BAC) plan to build a new parallel runway, after more than 2,000 people rallied
against the proposal. (AIRPORT LEAD)



BRISBANE - Premier Peter Beattie has made a last minute change to his overseas trade
mission itinerary to head off what he said were attempts by Victoria to snatch Queensland's
emerging magnesite industry. (PLANT LEAD)



BRISBANE - A man who allegedly made a series of vicious sex attacks on elderly women in
their beds, appeared in the magistrates court today. (RAPIST D/L)



BRISBANE - Authorities in north Queensland expected to start assessing flood damage today
as water levels continued to drop, police said. (RONA SECOND DAYLEAD, see also RONA BEATTIE
FUND, RONA FRUITS, RONA N/L to come)



BRISBANE - Premier Peter Beattie should intervene in the Gordonstone mine dispute in
central Queensland before it damaged the state's reputation, the state opposition said today.
(GORDONSTONE BEATTIE, N/L to come)



SYDNEY - Police will meet with Sydney Olympic soccer club officials today after 30 extra
police were called to Belmore Sports Ground last night to contain crowd violence at a match.
(SOCCER POLICE)



SYDNEY - The Chain Valley coalmine in the New South Wales Hunter Valley was shut down today
with the loss of 51 jobs, the mine's owner said. (COAL CHAIN)



SYDNEY - North Sydney rugby league prop Josh Stuart will face court charged with assault
after an incident at a Wagga Wagga nightclub early yesterday. (STUART)



SYDNEY - A Sydney court today ordered the extradition of a man wanted in Italy on attempted
murder and kidnapping charges. (FARINA DECISION, see also FARINA, N/L to come)



SYDNEY - The safety scare surrounding the Hyundai Excel passenger car last year was not
handled well by the company and ultimately cost it up to 3,000 new sales, the chief executive
of the Astra Automotive distribution group C K Liew said today. (EXCEL)



SYDNEY - Girls, it's that time of the year again. Cleo magazine has released its list of
the country's 50 most eligible bachelors and there a few new (and old) faces on board.
(BACHELOR)



MELBOURNE - Former Mexican banker Carlos Cabal Peniche has been given until April to give
reasons for opposing his extradition on multi-million dollar fraud charges, Melbourne
Magistrates Court heard today. (CABAL)



MELBOURNE - The Victorian opposition today rejected claims unions had snubbed party leader
John Brumby by dumping him as speaker at their Labour Day dinner. (BRUMBY)



MELBOURNE - Regional Victoria would receive a larger slice of taxes derived from gambling
under a Labor Government, Opposition leader John Brumby announced today. (GAMING ALP)



MELBOURNE - Melbourne should join other capital cities in Australia by electing its Lord
Mayor by popular vote, outgoing mayor Ivan Deveson said today. (MAYOR)



MELBOURNE - A 35-year-old woman who has been charged with attempted murder and child
stealing, offered to pay a pregnant woman $3000 to help her fake her pregnancy, a court heard
today. (MCKINLEY to come)

MELBOURNE - A man with cancer has won more than a million dollars in Tattslotto and says it
will mean he can leave his one-man business to have an operation. (TATTS)



PERTH - Police Commissioner Bob Falconer has attacked claims by the Western Australian
Police Union that officers around the state will take part in massive industrial action if
their demands for a pay rise are not met by Tuesday. (POLICE PAY)



PERTH - A 53-year-old man has drowned during a fishing trip off Safety Bay, 50 kilometres
south of Perth this morning. (DROWNING)



DARWIN - The senior traditional owner of the land on which the Jabiluka uranium mine is
being built will today start her appeal against a conviction for trespassing on her land.
(MARGARULA)



ADELAIDE - A special court will be set up in South Australia for mentally ill people
charged with an offence. (MENTAL)



ADELAIDE - Police have seized a marijuana crop with a potential value of $5 million in a
raid on a property in the South Australian Riverland. (MARIJUANA)



ADELAIDE - An Australian dance company has won permission to stage a unique work for the
first time outside the Nederlands Dans Theater. (WARREN to come)

ADELAIDE - A smoother health system with less frustration for patients is the aim of a $1.3
million national project being led by South Australia's Flinders Medical Centre (FMC).
(FLINDERS)



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KEYWORD: HIGHLIGHTS NATIONAL 2 SYDNEY

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