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Since October 1995

Monday 17th June 1996

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International:

Australia will stop work this morning at 10.30am as a mark of respect for the eighteen SAS troops who died in the Blackhawk helicopter tragedy last Wednesday. A State Memorial Service will be held at St Christopher's cathedral in Canberra to remember the members of the Special Air Service's crack anti-terrorist team and the three helicopter crew.

As a mark of respect all flags on Commonwealth buildings will be lowered.

Specially trained United States helicopter experts have been called in to investigate the accident. The experts from Sikorsky Aircraft, the company which makes the helicopters, were flown to the scene of the accident yesterday.

Now why would they do that if they wanted an unbiased opinion... I can only wonder.

Political:

Prime Minister John Howard, apparently wearing a bullet proof vest, yesterday faced a rowdy pro-gun crowd in country Victoria and challenged the gun lobby to take him on at the ballot box. Sections of the 3,000 strong crowd booed and shouted "Seig Heil" during his hour long speech.

The small Gippsland town of Sale reflected the divisive nature of the prohibition with the pro-gub lobby being fairly small but vocal, while the anti-gun lobby, the majority, stood quietly without making comment.

On the day it was a definite win for Prime Minister John Howard who showed that he would not be intimidated by the minority making the noise and trying to disrupt proceedings.

Business:

The home loan interest rate war being waged by the big banks will have a major effect on bottom-line profits according to JB Were. The banks have sat on the back of the home owner and grown fat on billion dollar plus profits over the last five years while Joe average has fallen deeper into debt - while trying to service his home loan.

Says it all doesn't it?

Sport:

Super League's battle to ensure that the Australian Rugby League's test against New Zealand was a flop reached new heights yesterday. The Super League backed New Zealand Rugby League threatened to ban players for five years if they took part in the series with the Kiwi outfit to be known as "All Golds".

The New Zealand Rugby League has also said that it will pay the players selected their match fee of Au$10,000 just to sit out the matches.

Back at home in Australia, Super League players have been advised to refuse selection to the Australian team.

Oh, what a farce the whole game has become.

Social:

Queensland has the most poverty of any mainland Australian state and is ranked last in terms of economic, environmental, and social policy performance, according to an Evatt Foundation survey.

The Evatt Foundation, a Labor research organisation, will release its third annual report today on the state of Australia.

It states that "Queensland has the second highest proportion of families living under the poverty line of any state, behind Tasmania, equivelant to 350,000 persons.

"Queensland's incidence of poverty is related closely to housing issues - public housing comprises 3.6% of the Queensland housing stock compared with a national average of 6%.

Personal trivia, from the global office:

Another day in the big smoke - well I guess that these are the sacrifices one has to face from time to time. Yes, another perfect day out there, currently cold but blue skies and a sunny, warm day ahead of us.


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