Food and drink make the front pages

THE PICK OF THE MORNING’S STORIES

Sporting Indicators

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS

Australia

China and Rio Tinto

Australia snubbed as Hu left to languish – Melbourne Sunday Age

‘Strong concern’ over Rio exec – Crean – Sydney Sunday Telegraph

Espionage Charges in China May Be Linked to Negotiations Over Iron Ore Prices – New York Times

Conservatism

Abbott foresees ‘coming out’ for conservatism – Liberal Tony Abbott is planning to unveil a plan to strengthen the institution of marriage as he ramps up a campaign to bring the doctrine of conservatism back to the mainstream of Liberal Party politics. In an interview with The Sunday Age, Mr Abbott said he hoped the release of his book Battlelines late this month would mark the “coming out” of conservatism.

Boat people

Many asylum seekers feared lost – The Melbourne Sunday Age reports from Jakarta that Indonesian police have found and detained at least 15 of the Afghans on board a vessel bound for Australia that went missing last week.

Child support

Private eyes to spy on deadbeat parents – Human Services Minister Chris Bowen said the national program would involve the Child Support Agency conducting covert surveillance on parents who evaded child-support obligations – Sydney Sunday Telegraph

Scalping

Call for national ban on scalping – Football Federation Australia, soccer’s ruling body, says it is time to stamp out the practice that has become a significant problem for all sporting codes – Melbourne Sunday Age

Political perks

Victorian ministers accused of cash grab – ministers have been accused of using the taxpayer as a “teller machine” because they have been handed cash advances for trips overseas – Melbourne Sunday Herald Sun

Bureaucracy

Transport directors doubled in ‘streamlined’ department – Brisbane’s Sunday Mail reports the re-marriage of Queensland Transport and Main Roads has seen the number of directors in a key area of the new “mega-super” department almost double.

Industrial relations

Wages of spin: Payboost for Rann’s PR – State Government’s spin doctors have received an automatic 3.5 per cent pay rise, sparking anger among teachers whose wage claim has stalled for 18 months – Adelaide Sunday Mail

The drink

Last drinks: laws to ban cheap booze – promotions that encourage irresponsible drinking face bans under new laws proposed by the Victorian Government – Melbourne Sunday Age

Pubs with no cheer for dry spell – publicans are frothing at the mouth over charity campaigns that urge Australians to give up the grog for three months a year – Sydney Sun Herald

Economic matters

State faces $2 billion budget blowout – cost of vital infrastructure has blown out by more than $2 billion in one year, a new line-by-line analysis of the NSW budget has revealed – Sydney Sun Herald

Bus-fare swindle costing our state millions – The State Government is being taken for a ride with Sydney Buses losing millions of dollars each year because of fare cheats – Sydney Sun Herald

Opinions

Nanna says no – Josh Gordon in the Melbourne Sunday Age asks if we are we in danger of becoming a nation of wowsers?

Rudd’s open door to illegals – is described by Piers Akerman in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph

We’re deaf to the economy’s screeching tyres – Richard Webb writing in the Melbourne Sunday Age is unable to understand why the people remain so confident when so many economic indicators are so bad

Youthful renewal key to Liberals’ electoral future – The Opposition must change the focus from its glory days to a brighter future, writes Michelle Grattan in the Sydney Sun Herald

Devil’s own time for Turnbull – The OzCar drama has left Liberals asking some leading questions, writes Paul Daley in the Sydney Sun Herald

In a league of their own – Lisa Carty argues in the Sydney Sun Herald that public school teachers are on a good wicket and closer scrutiny would expose the bad ones

Saying sorry seems to be a mute point – The Government has apologised to indigenous Australians but is stalling when it comes to mistreated and abused children, writes Kerry-Anne Walsh in the Sydney Sun Herald

Elsewhere

China

A Strongman Is China’s Rock in Ethnic Strife – a New York Times profile of Wang Lequan, 64, the Communist Party secretary and absolute power in the northwestern region of Xinjian, the man who China’s leadership elite, and perhaps especially his patron, President Hu Jintao, have made him their go-to expert on policies toward minorities, which account for the more than 100 million of China’s 1.3 billion citizens who are not ethnically classified as Han.

Tribal fear and loathing fuels Chinese riots – Jonathan Watts gives some background to the Chinese problems with the Uighur minority – Sunday Melbourne Age

Africa

In Ghana, Obama Preaches Tough Love – New York Times

BUSINESS

G.M. Vow to Slim Includes Top Ranks – New York Times

GM emerges from bankruptcy with a bold agenda – Los Angeles Times

Home buyers untroubled by contradictory indicators – Melbourne Sunday Age

ENVIRONMENT

Tough task to clear climate hurdles: Rudd – Sydney Sun Herald

Nemo and pals take the fish highway south – Sydney is set for an increase in colourful tropical fish as a changing climate warms our waters – Sydney Sun Herald

LIFE

Drugs

Aussies addicted to prescription drugs – Sunday Telegraph report that more than half a million Australians are addicted to painkillers.

Anti semitism

Gang boss jailed for torturing French Jew to death – in a case case that shocked France and turned a spotlight on anti-Semitic violence in the poor, multi-ethnic suburbs around many big French cities – Sydney Sunday Telegraph

Infertility

More men face infertility – Problems with male fertility are increasing, as research shows up to 30 per cent of men are infertile – Brisbane Sunday Mail

Adoption

Australia’s adoption rates lowest of developed countries – Brisbane Sunday Mail

Road safety

$50m Victoria speed camera blitz aimed to lower road carnage – Melbourne Sunday Herald Sun

Food safety

Food safety failures – 40 per cent of all restaurants and other food businesses in NSW routinely breach food safety laws, with some councils recording rates more than twice that figure, according to the first detailed food-safety data ever released – Sydney Sun Herald

Public benefits in food safety transparency – Matthew Moore Freedom of Information Editor, writes that with the release under Freedom of Information laws of the first comprehensive details of what councils are doing – and too often are not doing – to ensure food safety, people at least have some idea of where the problems are – Sydney Sun Herald