Today's Headlines

an Aussie's viewpoint on Australia's first daily Internet newspaper
Since October 1995

Friday 9th February 1996

Search news archive by day
Search archive by text (NB - News Index)
Definitive Guide to Aussie webs
Global Web Builders Gold
The Kid's Locker Room
World Wide Websters

International:

Papua New Guinea's Investment Promotion Authority opens its first overseas office in Brisbane today and will, because of lack of funding, be staffed by unpaid part-time volunteers. The authority is aggressively seeking foreign business for this financially troubled island nation.PNG Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chris Haiveta is expected to attend today's opening ceremony.

Political - Federal Election 2nd March 1996:

Isn't the traditional print/electronic media strange in their reporting? Yesterday the Liberal premier of Victoria, Geoff Kennett. disputed the Labor government figures that Australia would have a Au$3.5 billion surplus he said that there would, in fact, be a deficit of Au$5 billion. This government budget surplus has been used by both Liberal and Labor in an orgy of spending promises amounting to about Au$7 billion each so far in the lead up to the March election. So the media immediately claim this as a major embarrassment for John Howard and the Liberals. But wait a minute boys, aren't the official figures being supplied by LABOR's bureaucrats in dispute? Perhaps the political deals are already being made between the media magnates and those in power and this is now reflected in the reporting.. For anyone with half a brain this was obviously the case in the lead up to the 1993 election when Paul Keating beat John Hewson and his GST tax - which was pillaged by the media.

Business:

Australia's largest retailer, the troubled Coles Myer group, has sounded a profit warning despite a healthy increase in sales in its supermarket and liquor divisions. Sales in these areas were 15% higher than the previous year passing Woolwoths excellent rise of over 10%. Other divisions such as K Mart, Target and Grace Brothers were however holding the overall profit margins down.

Sport:

Angry Indian cricket officials have decreed that Australia will forfeit their opening World Cup match and face a further penalty for their "insulting" boycott of host nation Sri Lanka. On the eve of their departure to Calcutta the comments have come as a blow to the Australian team.
Why the heck go and play I wonder? If your safety cannot be guaranteed when you go and play a game of cricket - what gives. Last year a wall fell on 20 spectators at a match in Calcutta - killing them. The umpire had to continue with the game while the bodies were removed or he would have been beaten up by the crowd. Would you like to go and play cricket under those sort of circumstances? I know I would put it in the too hard basket. If I was in the Australian cricket team I would just give the Indian's a Clayton's victory and let them keep all the points and their "World Cup".

Social:

The Federal Government has backed down from its decision to force Queensland Year 1 students out of the day care system. As a result families with Year 1 students in family day care will no longer be required to find other care for the coming Easter holidays.

Global Gripe of the day:

Aboriginal claims:
A percentage of the Aboriginal people have become totally dependant on governent hands outs paid for by the largely white Australian tax payers. Now I am not trying to sound racist here, but when you have a major mining operation worth over Au$1.1 billion to the economy being put at risk by a small Aboriginal group who suddenly find a traditional reason for halting it it makes you wonder what is going on. Mining giant CRA have been given just 5 days to negotiate a (financial) settlement with the Waanyi group of Aborigines or risk the whole Century Zinc mine operation being stalled in the courts. Now even that would be acceptable, but who is going to negotiate with CRA? LAWYERS - where do lawyers make money? In court. So where will this whole debacle land up - stalled in court and possibly, as a result, shelved. So what? It will probably pay for a large number of lunches for lawyers in Sydney...

Personal trivia:

Another really hot day yesterday. Temperatures must have been in the high 30s. Looks like another one of the same again today with blue skies and little wind. But what a gorgeous sunrise. Morning mist painted orange by the rising sun drifted through the valley framing the darkened outlines of trees on the opposite river banks.

Return to Australian National News of the Day
#
Web development, design, and storage by Global Web Builders - Email: global@gwb.com.au

See GLOBE International for other world news.
WA
anotd