Today's Headlines
an Aussie's viewpoint
Tuesday 9th April 1996
A tribute to 
Mick Young
International:
A group of Japanese tourists had a lucky escape when their small plane ditched in the sea just off the Gold Coast at 9.30pm on Easter
Sunday. All 9 tourists were plucked from the sea by lifesavers who were having a party less than 100 metres from where the plane landed.
Political:
Deep divisions have occured within the Aboriginal community following the proposal that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Commission (ATSIC) be kept in government hands. There is also a proposal to cut the number of regional councils from 20 to 12.
There have been allegations of favouritism in the way money has been dispersed by ATSIC in the past - a massive sum of Au$1 billion
a year, and the major issue that independent Oxley MP, Pauline Hanson, raised in her comments leading up to the Federal election in March.
Business:
The Australian Securities Commission will investigate whether some stockbrokers, and possibly their clients, engineered a dramatic fall
on the stock market in the final hours of trading on March 29th. The ASC investigation follows a landmark Australian Stock Exchange
/ SydneyFutures Exchange inquiry into the volatile trading which saw the All Ordinaries plunge 25 points in just 45 minutes.
After being 14 points up on the day at 3pm heavy selling in several major stocks including BHP drove the price down.
At the same time there was frantic trading in the about to expire March share price index contract on the futures exchange.
Sport:
Cathy Freeman ran the race of her life during yesterday's Stawell Gift, the oldest paid foot race in the world. Cathy took out the 400
metres for women with a record time of 50.48 seconds - quite remarkable on grass!
The men's 100 metre event was won by Adelaide sprinter Stephen Hutton who walked away with a Au$30,000 prize!
Social:
Personality appears to be a greater determinant of risky behaviour than any lowering of inhibitions gleaned from alcohol, with a study
of sexual practices among men and women showing condoms are more likely to be slipped on after a few drinks.
Personal trivia:
We actually had a few drops of rain this morning. The first rain that we have had in over a month. Today we expect to place our new
Japanese site up on the net. I will keep you posted of the URL... shortly. Hope that you and your computer can read Japanese!
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