THIS MORNING’S FRONT PAGES
POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
Australia
Terrorism
A-G moves to make prosecutions easier, prevent attacks – The Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, said last night that within weeks he would release a package of reforms to national security and counter-terrorism laws for discussion and consultation – Sydney Morning Herald
Inside Java’s production line of terror – The Australian
Leadership
‘Arrogant’ Malcolm Turnbull under attack – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Wilson Tuckey criticises Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull – Melbourne Herald Sun
In bed with the enemy – how Rudd keeps his critics quiet – Phillip Coorey in the Sydney Morning Herald writes how Kevin Rudd has made an art form of promoting conservatives to boards and key policy positions as a method of disarming his critics.
Health services
Rudd health takeover plan – Melbourne Age
Elections
Coalition plan to avoid an early election – The Coalition could be ready to cut a deal on an emissions trading scheme by November in a strategy designed to avoid handing the Government a trigger for a double-dissolution election – Sydney Morning Herald
Economic matters
Last rate cut for some time – Borrowers may have seen the last rate cuts for some time with the RBA increasingly confident of an economic recovery starting within months – Melbourne Herald Sun
Mortgage belt loosens, but not for first-home buyers – Sydney Morning Herald
Recovery is on the way, says RBA board – Melbourne Age
Mortgage stress down but unemployment remains a big worry – The proportion of Australians feeling mortgage stress has fallen despite the global financial crisis, although the threat of unemployment looms large, a mortgage industry participant has found – The Australian
Australia and China
China pulls films out of festival – Melbourne Age reports the abrupt departure of the three Chinese films (Perfect Life, Petition – The Court of the Complainants, and the short Cry Me a River) – has thrown the festival’s programming into chaos with at least six sessions being cancelled.
China’s Wuhan Iron and Steel Co to invest in two SA mines – Adelaide Advertiser
Brazilian giant secures better iron price in Europe – China’s hopes of securing cheaper iron ore contract prices from Rio and BHP have taken another hit, with Brazilian giant Vale restricting European contract prices to those agreed to by better-placed Japanese and Korean steel mills – The Australian
Shanghai mayor to raise Hu concerns – West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says the mayor of Shanghai has been receptive to requests for Australian authorities to be given greater access to detained businessman Stern Hu. Mr Barnett, who has met Shanghai mayor Han Zheng during a nine-day official visit to China, said he raised the issue of the Australian Rio Tinto employee during a one-on-one meeting with Mr Zheng yesterday – Sydney Morning Herald
Transport
Lynne Kosky under pressure as government admits train hell fault – Department of Transport secretary Jim Betts, told a parliamentary inquiry that it was not Connex’s role to upgrade train air-conditioning, one of the major causes of cancellations during summer. “It was the Government’s responsibility,” he said – Melbourne Herald Sun
Education
‘Restore equality’ in school funding, Melbourne University report outlines – The Australian
Opinions
Make their lives count – Andrew Bolt in the Melbourne Herald Sun writes that Afghanistan was the “good” war that protesters against the “bad” Iraq war could back to show they weren’t all mush. But now that the war in Iraq has been won, suddenly that “good” war has turned “bad”, too.
PM must think like a war leader or quit field – Writes Paul Kelly in The Australian, Kevin Rudd and Barack Obama must win in Afghanistan because the alternative is unacceptable.
Be like Garrett, ditch your ideals – Janet Albrechtsen in The Australian believes Peter Garrett’s experience in approving the first new uranium project in his time as Environment Minister is an important lesson about idealism.
Health credit card fits the bill – Ros Gittins in the Sydney Morning Herald looks at the way we pay for health care
Elsewhere
Elections
Aso’s decision to dissolve Lower House comes too late – Struggling Prime Minister Taro Aso’s decision to dissolve the powerful House of Representatives has come too late, forcing the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to fight in a general election under the worst possible conditions – Mainichi Daily News
Iran
Battle for Iran threatens theocracy – The Australian
Afghanistan
Pullout could lead to civil war, Australian Defence Force chief warns – Sydney Morning Herald
Papua killings
A mystery too many in Papua – he thick and dense tropical rainforest that covers most of the rugged and mountainous province hides not only many secrets but also inexplicable events. One of these unfortunately is a series of tragic fatal incidents – Jakarta Post
BUSINESS
Kelly warns against regulatory overkill – Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly has warned the government not to over-regulate in response to the global financial crisis, saying more red tape could force the bank to pass on increased costs of compliance to customers – The Australian
Pay up: BrisCon calls in the debt collectors – Dozens of companies are at risk of being wound up and individual investors bankrupted as the toll road operator BrisConnections takes legal action against 135 former unit holders who failed to make payments on their units – Sydney Morning Herald
200 jobs lost as Lihir Gold quits Ballarat – Melbourne Age
ENVIRONMENT
PM Kevin Rudd told nuclear is best hope by Rio Tinto – The Australian
Two Aussie icons to be considered as new seven wonders – The Great Barrier Reef and Uluru have made the final round in a global contest to select the new Seven Wonders of Nature – Sydney Morning Herald
MEDIA
Networks battle but media shares soar – Melbourne Herald Sun
Google cleared of responsibility for indexing defamatory comments – A landmark ruling in the High Court has cleared Google of all responsibility for indexing defamatory comments that appear in blogs, news articles and forums – London Daily Telegraph
LIFE
Swine flu
Swine flu kills baby and mother critically ill – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Swine flu vaccine trials start – Adelaide Advertiser
Swine flu sweeps Palm island – The Australian
New age men
Boys taught to be sensitive ‘new age’ men – The seismic shift to start teaching Emotional Intelligence or “positive psychology” is taking place in some of Queensland’s most prestigious boys schools – Brisbane Courier Mail
Pets
The drink
Pubs want harsher penalties for violence – Brisbane Courier Mail
Top venues forced to use plastic containers instead of glasses – Melbourne Herald Sun
And other drugs
More councils introduce smoke-free outdoor areas – Sydney Morning Herald
Extradition
Thai red tape delays moves to bring Luke Mitchell’s killers to justice – Melbourne Herald Sun
Crikey is committed to hosting lively discussions. Help us keep the conversation useful, interesting and welcoming. We aim to publish comments quickly in the interest of promoting robust conversation, but we’re a small team and we deploy filters to protect against legal risk. Occasionally your comment may be held up while we review, but we’re working as fast as we can to keep the conversation rolling.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please subscribe to leave a comment.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please login to leave a comment.