Fighting fat and booze at the forefront with nitrous oxide at the store front

FRONT PAGES OF THIS MORNING’S PAPERS

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS

Australia

Law and order

Valuer: Michael McGurk feud yes, killing no – A property valuer who claimed he was bashed and fire-bombed by Michael McGurk, yesterday expressed relief he was dead – but insisted he did not kill him. The story refers to what it calls business links between the murdered Mr McGurk and the former NSW Premier Neville Wran and mentions a parcel of land once owned by the CSIRO at Badgerys Creek as having been proposed for rezoning. The former planning minister Frank Sartor knocked back a request to rezone the land and release it for development. However, the State Government commenced a study in 2007, understood to cost around $2million, into rezoning the land parcel as part of a wider proposal – Sydney Sunday Telegraph

Knife ban plan for young teens – Tougher laws banning the sale of knives to people under the age of 16 are designed to prevent Adelaide from becoming like London where violent stabbings are common – Adelaide Sunday Mail

Leadership

Rees factor gives Turnbull a chance to strike back – Michelle Grattan in the Sydney Sun Herald writes that Liberals are deluding themselves if they scoff at the significance of the Bradfield byelection to their fortunes

John Della Bosca had secret plan to save Sydney – Fallen Labor minister John Della Bosca had secretly drawn up a 100-day action plan he planned to unveil on his first day as Premier of NSW – Sydney Sunday Telegraph

Political life

‘Warm’ Tebbutt the hot tip for Della’s old job – Deputy Premier Carmel Tebbutt is set to be promoted to the tough health portfolio in a minor cabinet reshuffle, which could be announced as early as today – Sydney Sun Herald

MP Belinda Neal kicks out husband John Della Bosca – Melbourne Sunday Herald Sun

Belinda Neal ‘rage’ over strata fees – Belinda Neal has again been accused of aggressive and threatening behaviour, this time over a strata fee dispute on a Kirribilli investment property owned with husband John Della Bosca – Sydney Sunday Telegraph

Anna Bligh’s TV dinner leaves a bad taste – Only one in four Queenslanders support Premier Anna Bligh’s gamble to lift her popularity by appearing on television reality show MasterChef – Brisbane Sunday Mail

It’s over – Reba Meagher to be a single mum – A year after member of Parliament and former NSW health minister Reba Meagher and one-time government spin doctor Adam Walters declared their mutual adoration, their romance is over – Sydney Sun Herald

Nathan Rees leaves pregnant pause on questions of wife – Premier Nathan Rees appears to be a father-in-waiting today after twice failing yesterday to deny his wife, Stacey Haines, is pregnant with their first child – Sydney Sun Herald

Political parties

LNP in Queensland hires Frenchman to set up party website – The Liberal National Party could not find a single Queenslander, let alone an Australian, with the necessary skills to set up the new party’s website. The LNP used a migration agent to employ a Frenchman to build the internet pages – Brisbane Sunday Mail

Economic matters

Housing prices set to soar – Australia could be heading for another rampant house-price boom, fuelled by cashed-up superannuation investors exploiting generous government concessions – Sydney Sunday Telegraph

Homes sold over rates debts – More than than 300 Queensland properties have been listed for sale by councils trying to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid rates in the past six months – Brisbane Sunday Mail

Early signs of recovery – Queensland’s real estate market is showing signs of recovery with new figures revealing big increases in the number of house sales – Brisbane Sunday Mail

Aussie would swallow junk food tax – As the Federal Government considers reforms across the health sector, a survey has found 64 per cent of adults would accept price rises on foods high in fat and sugar – Melbourne Sunday Herald Sun

Opinions

Labor’s flawed federal model – Piers Akerman writes in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph that the Rudd Government will have to do more than bar a few dud NSW MPs from entering the federal sphere if it wants to convince voters that NSW Labor’s problems don’t have a bearing on the federal Labor Government.The federal Labor Government is, if not a clone of the NSW Government, the love-child of the NSW ALP, conceived with the help of the Victorian Left.

Stimulus sums aren’t adding up – Glenn Milne in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph reckons the developing trouble with the Government’s economic stimulus package is it’s pulling in two different directions at once: one economic, the other political.

A debate we had to have – Claire Harvey writes in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph that the law says abortion is a crime punishable but abortions still happen because our courts have interpreted the law to allow quasi-legal abortion on demand. And we got to this situation without a serious, open debate about what sort of abortion regime we want or need, because everyone’s terrified – and by everyone, I mean all the sensible people in the middle.

John Howard distrusted Peter Costello – An extract from a new book by Paul Kelly has former prime minister John Howard attacking Peter Costello for almost destroying the Liberal government’s crucial GST legislation – Melbourne Sunday Herald Sun

When boy wants girl he should think again – Lisa Carty in the Sydney Sun Herald gives a little history about political affairs before concluding that Premier Rees has had a year in the job and after the demise of Della and Sartor he is almost certain to take Labor to the next election. Time to make the best of it, she says.

Elsewhere

Economic matters

G20 agrees regulatory framework – After two days of meetings in London, the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers agreed the broad outlines of a tough new regulatory framework for financial institutions that stops short of setting caps on bankers’ bonuses but leaves open the possibility that regulators will have a say on pay – London Financial Times

BUSINESS

Di Bella is brewing a successful business – Business is well and truly in the black for Queensland’s coffee king, Phillip Di Bella. While many companies have struggled against the economic downturn, the Brisbane-based entrepreneur says turnover has increased by about 70 per cent over the past 12 months – Brisbane Sunday Mail

ENVIRONMENT

Worst climate change offenders to escape effects, report claims – Countries which are contributing most to climate change, including Britain, will be shielded from its worst effects, according to a study which ranks nations according to their vulnerability to global warming – The London Times

MEDIA

Jennifer Hawkins turn for Seven paycuts – Following the dramatic pay cuts Nine Network dealt its talent roster last week, The Sunday Telegraph has learned Seven is scrutinising the lucrativesalaries of some of its stars, including Hawkins, Jamie Durie and Grant Denyer – Sydney Sunday Telegraph

LIFE

Child minding

Kids kept quiet with cannabis – Sydney Sunday Telegraph

The drink

Drinking to death, one glass at a time – Middle aged drinkers are consuming alcohol at unprecedented levels, with many unaware their “social” drinking is killing them – Brisbane Sunday Mail

One-in-four drivers over or close to alcohol limit – The WA Government will overhaul its $1m anti-drink drive campaign after it was revealed one in four had driven over or near the alcohol limit in the past year – Perth Sunday Times

Police probe death after Albany man downs Tequila bottle – Police are now investigating whether criminal charges could be laid over the death. It is possible, that with sufficient evidence, police could pursue charges of manslaughter — in what may be a West Australian first – Perth Sunday Times

The drugs

Shops sell party gas drug – Petrol stations, newsagents and convenience stores are selling nitrous oxide – commonly known as “happy gas” – to customers who inhale them for the high – Adelaide Sunday Mail

$300,000 kava bust – A man was busted with almost $300,000 worth of kava stuck in several garbage bags on Friday – Sunday Territorian

Pub cigarette sales under fire – Cigarette ales should be banned from pubs and clubs, say anti-smoking campaigners, who point to the results of world-first research carried out in Sydney – Sydney Sun Herald

Consumer affairs

Free-range egg claims don’t add up – An analysis of egg industry data has confirmed what most consumers have suspected: it is doubtful enough free-range layer hens in the country exist to produce the number of eggs labelled free-range – Sydney Sun Herald

Breastfeeding

Law backs breastfeeding mums – Refusing a woman the right to breastfeed in public is against the law in Queensland, according to the state’s Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth – Brisbane Sunday Mail