THIS MORNING’S FRONT PAGES
POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
Australia
Economic matters
Kevin Rudd’s victory on G20 change – Kevin Rudd claimed working families would be the beneficiaries after Australia won a place in the new world order yesterday. World leaders, meeting in Pittsburgh, formally agreed to adopt the G20 – the 20 nations with the largest economies in the world, including Australia – as the pre-eminent global economic forum, replacing the G8 – Sydney Sunday Telegraph
$82m ‘wasted’ in stimulus splurge – It was designed to stimulate the economy but more than $82 million of the first round of the Federal Government’s stimulus payments went to people living abroad – Sydney Sun Herald
By-election
Fletcher wins Lib poll to contest safe Bradfield – Aafter one of the most hotly contested preselection battles in memory, Paul Fletcher last night won the right to contest the ultra-safe federal Liberal seat of Bradfield. A former Optus executive, Mr Fletcher defeated 16 other candidates – a record field – to emerge victorious after a day of speeches and a night of ballots – Sydney Sun Herald
Ex-SAS man Peter Tinley tipped for former premier’s seat – Former WA Premier Alan Carpenter’s sudden resignation has sparked fury among some senior members of the Labor Party. Mr Tinley, 47, a former SAS major who unsuccessfully contested the Federal seat of Stirling at the last election, confirmed to The Sunday Times he was contesting pre-selection for Willagee.
Opinion polls
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh finds trust hard to come by – Four out of every five Queenslanders don’t trust Premier Anna Bligh. Failure to stamp out corruption and cronyism in her government and widespread public anger at asset sales and the removal of the fuel subsidy have severely damaged the Labor leader – Brisbane Sunday Mail
Kids rate global crisis as biggest worry – Children are worrying about their job prospects before they even finish primary school as a result of the global financial crisis, a nationwide survey has revealed. The seventh annual New Generations survey of 1952 children was conducted by the Cartoon Network earlier this year. Children who participated were accompanied by a parent – Adelaide Sunday Mail
Discrimination
Government bows to religious right – Victorian Attorney General Rob Hulls will today announce a controversial compromise struck with the state’s religious groups that will allow them to continue to discriminate against gays and lesbians, single mothers and people who hold different spiritual beliefs – Melbourne Sunday Age
Aussie companies who refuse to give women a fair go – Twelve Australian companies have been outed for refusing to comply with laws governing equal treatment of women in the workplace – Sydney Sunday Telegraph
Political life
Schapelle Corby walk-in shocks Alexander Downer – Former oreign affairs minister Alexander Downer was the victim of a bizarre home invasion when a grey-haired woman walked into his home last week and abused him over jailed drug smuggler Schapelle Corby – Brisbane Sunday Mail
‘Fiskal’ gaffe pain – Family First Senator Steve Fielding has told of his embarrassment over his recent “fiscal” gaffe and that he wanted to “hide under a rock” – Melbourne Sunday Herald Sun
Rees like 12yo with Tourettes, says Labor MP – A disgruntled state Labor MP has attacked his own Premier, saying Twitter makes him behave like a ”12-year-old with Tourettes”. Paul McLeay’s extraordinary comments extended to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, whom he accused of ”perpetually spamming everyone on Facebook” – Sydney Sun Herald
Education
Time to table truth on education – Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard says every parent has a right to comprehensive information allowing them to compare their child’s school with others around the nation – Sydney Sunday Telegraph
Transport
Angry commuters to drive revolt over $4.20 Clem7 toll – Brisbane’s soon-to-be-completed road tunnel under the river is shaping up as a $3 billion white elephant, with motorists declaring they won’t use the tollway. Three-quarters of respondents to The Sunday Mail’s Queensland Speaks survey said they would refuse to pay the $4.20 toll to use the Clem7 when it opens early next year – Brisbane Sunday Mail
Victims of war
War widow Breeanna Till gets $305 a week – months after her husband was killed fighting in Afghanistan, Breeanna Till is broke – let down by the government that promised solemnly to look after her – Brisbane Sunday Mail
Opinions
War widows are forgotten victims – The editorial in the Brisbane Sunday Mail says: “Today we remind Queenslanders of the ordinary people who are bearing the real brunt of the war in Afghanistan. They are the Australian service personnel who put their lives on the line in a war with a vicious and cunning enemy in a cruel and challenging environment. They are the wives who meet the challenges of family life without the support of their partners and with the constant dread of a knock on the door that might bring unbearable news. And they are the wives whose husbands are killed or crippled in the service of Australia, a country that has a disgustingly short memory when it comes to repaying the debt it owes its soldiers and their families.”
Rude Kevin Rudd will reap whirlwind – Glenn Milne in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph writs that, put simply, what aggravates Rudd’s colleagues and union leaders is what they see as his prissy, self-centred, top-down, “nobody’s right, but me” approach to government. It wasn’t always that way. He used to have the ability to take himself down. Listening to those who interact with him now, you get the impression that this trait has been all but obliterated by high office.
Did sanctioned drug deals kill heroin users – Piers Akerman in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph writes that just when it seemed NSW politics couldn’t get any murkier, the Liberal Party is pressing for a royal commission into serious allegations about the conduct of the Wood royal commission that go to the heart of the State’s justice system.
State still plagued by a culture of secrecy and obstruction – Melissa Fyfe in the Melbourne Sunday Age writes that the Victorian Ombudsman has highlighted worrying aspects of the way we are governed.
Fielding’s days numbered – Stephanie Peatling in the Sydney Sun Herald writes that the Government is tiring of dealing with a problem of its own making in the Senate.
Obesity is not a right – Is it time that governments stopped people making bad decisions about their own health? asks Michael Smith in the Melbourne Sunday Age.
Elsewhere
Opinions
A risk Obama will be loved but not feared – The London Daily Telegraph‘s David B lair reprinted in the Sunday Melbourne Age saying the US President’s feel-good diplomacy must not portray him as a soft touch.
BUSINESS
Market on fire: follow that bull! – Shares have climbed more than 50 per cent in six months, delivering their strongest bounce since the 1930s. Yet share experts are still calling the market higher – what’s going on? asks Richard Webb in the Melbourne Sunday Age
Joy for investors as big gun puts a bounce in their scrip – What does it take for a super bear to become a bull? Well, a 55 per cent increase in the market might have had something to do with it – Melbourne Sunday Age
ENVIRONMENT
Bread causing magpie birth defects – Bird welfare groups have blamed a dramatic rise in birth defects among magpies on well-meaning people who cause more harm than good by feeding them bread – Adelaide Sunday Mail
MEDIA
Seven’s new digital TV channel, 72, revealed – Channerl Seven’s long-awaited new digital channel will be called 72 and feature a broad line-up of “lifestyle” programming – Melbourne Age
Counselling won’t help Kyle – Sydney Sunday Telegraph
LIFE
The drugs
Prescription pill-popping soars among white-collar Victorians – Addiction to prescription painkillers is soaring, with the number of Victorians being treated in hospital emergency departments more than doubling in the past five years – Melbourne Sunday Age
Police to use drug dogs at WA music festivals – Perth Sunday Times
The drink
Dangerous student drinking targeted in hard-hitting campaign – Teenage girls in WA are drinking their male peers under the table, according to the state’s biggest survey of student drug and alcohol use. And the WA Government is so appalled at the level of binge drinking by teenage girls it will launch a hard-hitting advertising campaign to target them – Perth Sunday Times
The porn
Hard times, drooping patronage, force adult cinema to close – Melbourne Sunday Age
The bets
Fittler denies Roosters match fixing – Brad Fittler has broken his silence on rugby league’s alleged betting scandal, slamming accusations of match fixing as “ridiculous” and “unfounded” – Sydney Sunday Telegraph
The sex
Shag bands are a parent’s worst nightmare – They look like a symbol of childhood innocence. But these colourful bracelets are behind an “insidious” craze of primary school kids performing sex acts that it is feared will soon sweep through Queensland – Brisbane Sunday Mail
Poor sex ed creates generation of vulnerable women – Melbourne Sunday Age
The dying
Christian Rossiter’s lawyer John Hammond calls for heroin for dying – should be given to severely ill people who want to kill themselves, says Perth lawyer John Hammond. Mr Hammond, who represented deceased right-to-die campaigner Christian Rossiter, said he supported having euthanasia laws – Perth Sunday Times
The kilojoules
MP gives fast food a serve – A pediatrician and State Government MP have called on fast-food companies to display kilojoule counts on price boards. Macquarie Fields MP Andrew McDonald said governments must get tough on outlets such as KFC and McDonald’s because obesity was personally devastating for sufferers and economically devastating for the community – Sydney Sun Herald
Real estate
Heat is on for home buyers – Home buyers should brace themselves for intense competition and price rises as Melbourne heads into its strongest spring property market since the 2007 boom, industry experts say. The warning comes amid a growing debate over whether the city is on the cusp of a new property boom as soaring demand for housing pushes sales volumes, clearance rates and price growth to levels previously seen in 2007 – Melbourne Sunday Age
Last bid for the big Rudd boost – A record number of Sydney properties went to auction yesterday, as first-home buyers rushed to take advantage of generous government cash handouts before they are pared back this week – Sydney Sun Herald
Racial abuse
Teen footy brawl ‘incited by racial abuse’ – Parents of teenagers blamed for a wild brawl during an under-16 rugby league match claim they were incited to violence by “55 minutes of racial sledging” – Sydney Sunday Telegraph
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