Fed: Farmers flooding assistance package

AAP General News (Australia)
08-11-2000
Fed: Farmers flooding assistance package

CANBERRA, Aug 11 AAP - Dairy farmers were rushing to join a $1.7 billion assistance
scheme a week before it closes.

The Dairy Adjustment Authority reported today it had received more than 13,000 applications
by farmers for part of the assistance package.

This was well up on earlier counts which forced the authority to issue a warning to
farmers that they risked missing out on substantial funds.

The package has been put in place to help farmers adjust to the deregulation of the
dairy industry.

Authority board member Terry O'Callaghan said it appeared people were now getting the
message that their applications had to be in before August 17.

"I must admit, we've been anxious that dairy farmers were not grasping the finality
of the August 17 deadline," he said in a statement.

"But it seems now that most people have got the message and are returning their forms
at the last minute."

There has been criticism from farmers and dairy organisations about the way the authority
was handling applications.

Mr O'Callaghan said applicants were now being telephoned as soon as their applications
were received.

Mr O'Callaghan said up to 30 per cent of applications had been incorrectly completed,
ranging from putting information in the wrong box to conflicting responses.

AAP sw/ss/apm

KEYWORD: DAIRY ADJUST

2000 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: man nearly dies after swallowing cocaine filled condoms

AAP General News (Australia)
02-24-2000
NSW: man nearly dies after swallowing cocaine filled condoms

SYDNEY, Feb 24 AAP - A West Indian drug trafficker who swallowed 110 cocaine-filled
condoms on a flight to Sydney nearly paid with his life when some of them burst.

Justice Minister Amanda Vanstone said today the 50-year-old had a heart attack and
spent six days on life support in a Sydney hospital.

He arrived on a flight from London on February 6 and soon came to the attention of
federal law enforcement authorities …

Fed: Conservationists blaming river trouble on fed govt

AAP General News (Australia)
12-22-1999
Fed: Conservationists blaming river trouble on fed govt

CANBERRA, Dec 22 AAP - Conservationists today accused the federal government of failing
to address a national crisis threatening river systems and the quality of drinking water.

On Monday the federal and South Australian governments put Victoria on notice that
they would not allow water to be rediverted to the Snowy River at the expense of the Murray.

A recent Murray-Darling Commission audit showed high salt levels were threatening the
future of the river system and safe drinking water levels.

Federal Environment Minister Robert Hill expressed concern at Victoria's plan to restore
28 per cent water flow into the Snowy because of potential damage to the ailing Murray
basin.

Romantic notions about the Snowy were driving the debate, instead of environmental
or economic logic, he said.

But the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) accused Senator Hill of failing to
show leadership in the debate.

"The minister is still not tackling the salinity problem where it starts," ACF executive
director Don Henry said in a statement.

"He still allows a million trees a week to be cleared in Queensland.

"He still allows excessive water to be taken from the Snowy and the Murray rivers.

"And the minister allows irrigation water to be lost to evaporation."

The challenge of saving the nation's rivers was a national issue, he said.

"The challenge is for states and the commonwealth to stop playing politics and agree
to national actions and frameworks which look after our bush and our rivers," Mr Henry
said.

Earlier this week Victorian Premier Steve Bracks told Senator Hill to stop playing
partisan politics and start negotiating with Victoria and New South Wales.

But Senator Hill said the Murray would probably require greater flows than planned
in future years because governments had underestimated the impact of dry land salinity.

AAP lm/daw/pjs

KEYWORD: SNOWY (CARRIED EARLIER)

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

FED: Long running award simplification finally handed down

AAP General News (Australia)
08-10-1999
FED: Long running award simplification finally handed down

An award simplification case criticised by the federal government and employers over
lengthy delays has been finally handed down after two-and-a-half years.

The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) decision on the Graphic Arts Award
came after criticism from employers' body the Australian Industry Group (AIG) about long
delays in the simplification process.

Under the process, the federal government has ordered the AIRC to pare back federal awards
to 20 basic conditions.

AIG chief executive BOB HERBERT and Workplace Relations Minister PETER REITH have
criticised unions for dragging the chain on simplification, citing the Graphic Arts Award as
the low point.

Yesterday's decision has also been criticised by the printers' union.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union says the scrapping of a requirement that
printers using dangerous machinery and toxins be in sight of another at all times defied
commonsense.

AAP RTV dep/tsm/rsm/wz

KEYWORD: AWARD PRINTERS (SYDNEY)

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

NSW: Subbies to be protected from unscrupulous operators

AAP General News (Australia)
02-15-1999
NSW: Subbies to be protected from unscrupulous operators

SYDNEY, Feb 14 AAP - New South Wales subcontractors and small suppliers would be protected
from unscrupulous developers under state government plans announced today, Premier Bob Carr
said.

The Security of Payment Plan would include legislative protection for New South Wales'
30,000 self-employed subcontractors, he said.

Industry groups estimate tradespeople lose more than $1 billion a year due to building
company collapses.

Mr Carr said the plan would target a small section of the building industry which set up
"phoenix companies".

"Before completing a major project these operators declare themselves bankrupt in order to
escape paying their subcontractors," Mr Carr said in a statement.

"These phoenix companies then reappear a short time later under a new trading name -
sometimes resuming work at the same site."

Mr Carr said the plan included spelling out intervals during which payments must be made,
increase to $10,000 the maximum disputed amount that could be heard by the small claims
division of the local court and ban "pay-when-paid" or "pay-if-paid" clauses.

AAP shm/was/de

KEYWORD: POLLNSW SUBBIES

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

VIC:Main stories in Melbourne newspapers=2

AAP General News (Australia)
02-02-2012
VIC:Main stories in Melbourne newspapers=2

The Age

Page 1: Optus wins landmark copyright case and will be allowed to show AFL and NRL
to its mobile phone users despite Telstra's multimillion-dollar deals with the football
codes. Big pay rises for community sector workers will help narrow the wages gap between
men and women. Prime Minister Julia Gillard plays down manufacturing job losses as "growing
pains".

Page 2: Labor backbencher calls for media inquiry after mining magnate Gina Rinehart
becomes Fairfax Media's biggest shareholder. Rinehart becoming an unstoppable force …

QLD:Yasi to hit between Innisfail, Cardwell=6

AAP General News (Australia)
02-02-2011
QLD:Yasi to hit between Innisfail, Cardwell=6

Ms Bligh said 16 special care babies, two of whom were in intensive care, and eight
adults from intensive care unit (ICU), were among the 250 patients evacuated from Cairns
Hospital.

There were numerous patients who could not walk and others who needed oxygen, she said.

"The last plane from that evacuation will arrive (in Brisbane) at midday today, a Royal
Flying Doctors plane, and it will be carrying four of the those special care babies,"

Ms Bligh said.

"The evacuation will be complete in half an hour's time when four neo-patients arrive
in Brisbane."

She said some parents accompanied children during the relocation.

"Efforts will be made by all those receiving hospitals to stay in touch with families
who have been left behind in Cairns of their loved ones in hospital," Ms Bligh said.

MORE peb/tnf/apm

KEYWORD: YASI BLIGH 2ND UPDATE 6 BRISBANE

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