Liberals ponder how low they can go

THE NEWSPOLL NUMBERS FROM THE AUSTRALIAN

THIS MORNING’S FRONT PAGES

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS

Rio Tinto and China

China’s $120bn Rio spy claim – alleges Rio Tinto stripped $A123 billion from the country through a six-year program of commercial espionage, as it signalled it will broaden its spy blitz beyond the four mining employees detained in Shanghai – Melbourne Age

Law and order

Police poised for new street search powers – Horrified by police reports that children as young as 10 are arming themselves with knives, Premier John Brumby will introduce legislation before the end of the year to give police tougher move-on and random search powers – Melbourne Age

Cops get tougher search powers – Melbourne Herald Sun

Assaults head surge in Melbourne crime mayhem – Melbourne’s treet violence continues to spiral out of control with sharp increases in assaults, drug crimes and murders – Melbourne Herald Sun

Corruption

Call for state corruption inquiry heats up – The State Government faces the prospect of an embarrassing parliamentary inquiry into alleged corruption by Labor MPs and officials before next year’s election – Melbourne Age

Leadership

Cabinet reshuffle will punish Rees unfaithful – NSW Premier, Nathan Rees, will punish his enemies and reward supporters in a cabinet reshuffle, with the Minister for Police, Tony Kelly, and the Minister for Primary Industries, Ian Macdonald, to be demoted or dumped – Sydney Morning Herald

Malcolm Turnbull’s approval takes a new hit in Newspoll – Malcolm urnbull’s personal support has been hit a second time by disclosures about the fake email he used to call for Kevin Rudd’s resignation with further slump in voter approval of his performance – The Australian

Warnings, hints and threats flood in on the good ship Turnbull – In a crucial week for the Opposition Leader, Malcolm Turnbull will confront a divided party room and tough policy choices on climate change and health – Sydney Morning Herald

Tuckey to ask leader for respect – backbencher Wilson Tuckey plans to demand undertakings from Malcolm Turnbull about his conduct, including that he show ”some respect” to the party room. Mr Turnbull’s leadership is under great pressure, but there is no challenger – Melbourne Age

Economic matters

Spending through dip in confidence – a new sense of optimism is beginning to help lift the national shopping spirit, despite uncertainty about jobs.  – Melbourne Age

Debt a threat to growth, says IMF – The IMF’s annual review of Australia has issued a sharp warning for the first time that the high and rising levels of household debt and net foreign debt make it vulnerable to a sudden collapse in the confidence of global investors – Melbourne Age

Home truths from International Monetary Fund – House prices are overvalued by as much as 20 per cent and the International Monetary Fund is worried that a price correction might yet pitch Australia into recession and bring massive losses to the banks – The Australian

Punch-ups and panic as budget sector soars – Soaring demand for affordable residential real estate is prompting buyers to pay tens of thousands of dollars more than the advertised price on websites and has even sparked a punch-up at an auction in Sydney’s Parramatta – The Australian

Youth face bleak job future – Queensland’s youth is at risk of ending up on the scrap heap of the long-term unemployed, with the jobless rate hitting 19 per cent for 15 to 19-year-olds – Brisbane Courier Mail

Property regains investor allure – AFE SA figures show enrolments in its property investment courses have more than doubled in a year – Adelaide Advertiser

More than $1m to build unit for Govt workers – Northern Territory News

Defence

New Digger force hits Afghan frontline – Australia’s newest contingent of troops has arrived on the Afghanistan frontline to face the most intense enemy threat in the seven-year campaign against the Taliban – Adelaide Advertiser

The Senate

Triple blow on bills looms for Labor – Kevin Rudd faces the defeat of up to three bills and the deferral of another in the Senate this week but could still strengthen his hand against the opposition via a new inquiry into the Godwin Grech affair – The Australian

Opinions

Why unemployment won’t rise this time – Ross Gittins in the Melbourne Age says it appears Australians are working fewer hours, which beats losing their jobs.

Political wins must be based on core values – Brendan Nelson argues it would be fatal for the Liberal Party to move to the ”left” or hard right – Melbourne Age

Malcolm looking to baseline as a lifeline – Lenore Taylor in The Australian hopes modelling by Frontier Economics gives him a “positive” message on climate change even as the Coalition prepares to vote the Rudd government’s emissions trading scheme down.

IMF sees problems here even after global crisis passes – Michael Stutchbury says the Treasury and the Reserve Bank insist that the IMF is “too pessimistic” in refusing to endorse the budget’s forecasts that, after a slow start, the recovery will build a head of steam, sustaining half a decade of 4-4.5 per cent annual growth from 2011-12 – The Australian

Cutting out cronies – Glenn Milne writes in The Australian of the Liberal determined to clean up the mess of campAign finance and lobbyists.

Every which way, the Liberals lose – Dennis Shanahan writes in The Australian that everyone knew today’s Newspoll would be a disaster for Malcolm Turnbull, and it is.

Elsewhere

Taliban

Taliban chiefs fight to death – Pakistan’s Taliban appeared in turmoil after reports of a deadly shootout between contenders to replace the shadowy movement’s leader, believed to have been killed in a US drone attack – The Australian

Law and order

Briton could face death penalty in Iraq after British and Australian colleague shot dead – London Daily Telegraph reports a British security worker could face the death penalty in Iraq after he was arrested on suspicion of the murder of a British and an Australian colleague during a “squabble” in Baghdad’s Green Zone.

Opinions

Another cash injection crucial – Joseph E. Stiglitz, professor of economics at Columbia University, writes in the Melbourne Age that what is needed now is another dose of fiscal stimulus. If that does not happen, we can look forward to an even longer period in which the economy operates below capacity, with high unemployment. It is a mistake to look only at a country’s liabilities and ignore its assets

BUSINESS

Credit unions seek access to super cash for $1bn fund – The Australian

ENVIRONMENT

Olympic Dam impact grossly underestimated, Greens say – Adelaide Advertiser

$38bn warning on Great Barrier Reef bleaching – Great Barrier Reef Foundation puts in its global warming ambit claim – Melbourne Age

Coalition to pledge lower bills in its emissions plan – The Opposition will today release an alternative to the Government’s emissions trading scheme that would slash the proposed rise in household electricity bills – Melbourne Age

Malcolm Turnbull talks up cheaper power in rival carbon plan – The Australian

MEDIA

Plans to plug security leaks to media sparks a backlash – The Australian

Journalists embedded for Afghan election – The Australian

MasterChef, Packed To The Rafters, Border Security are TV’s most watched – Sydney Daily Telegraph reports that Australian-made dramas and reality TV shows are kicking ratings goals, while major sporting events have run out of puff.

Sucked in – spat out – Alan Howe reckons we’ve probably forgotten by now the names Konrad Kujau and Wayne Patterson, (he’s right in my case) like one day you’ll struggle to recall the name Godwin Grech – Melbourne Herald Sun

LIFE

Abortion

Abortion pill to be widely available – It will be used only at less than nine weeks’ gestation, under prescribing and import rights granted by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. Marie Stopes said the TGA had relaxed rules compared with previous prescribing rights – Melbourne Age

Transport

Mounting scooter toll sparks fears – An alarming increase in the number of deaths resulting from motorised scooter accidents has forced the Federal Government to issue a blunt warning – Adelaide Advertiser

Fee of $10 for myki cards – Passengers using the new myki smartcard in regional Victoria were overcharged 10,800 times in the ticket system’s first four months of operation. And as the launch of the $1.3 billion ticket system nears in Melbourne, it is also now clear that travellers will be expected to pay a $10 fee for the microchipped card, on top of normal ticketing charges – Melbourne Age

Swine flu

Indigenous at more risk of swine flu – The Australian

Swine flu threat: mums in isolation – Townsville Bulletin

Truancy

Truant crisis a risk to kids – A child welfare advocate has accused Victorian authorities of going soft on school truancy because local authorities rarely prosecute parents – Melbourne Herald Sun

The punt

Betting rules a debacle – One of of Australia’s biggest bookmakers has called on the AFL for full disclosure on team selection after last week’s unsuccessful Hawthorn plunge – Adelaide Advertiser

The boost

Diggers’ Viagra costs millions – War veterans who fought on the battlefield only to later battle in the bedroom have cost taxpayers almost $12 million in impotence medication – Brisbane Courier Mail