NSW Premier will not go quietly and neither will Ricky Ponting

PAGE ONE OF THIS MORNING’S PAPERS

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS

Australia

Leadership

I‘m not quitting: Rees rejects rumours of his imminent demise – Sydney Morning Herald

I’m not giving up, says defiant Rees – Premier Nathan Rees has broken his holiday silence to declare in five simple words that he won’t be going anywhere, any time soon – “I have no such intention.” – Sydney Daily Telegraph

Live radio tries to kill Premier – Ray Hadley at 2GB goes off prematurely or just gets it wrong – Sydney Morning Herald

Don’t send me into the wilderness, pleads Ponting – “My desire has never been stronger than right now. My hunger is as good as ever. I’m already determined to be a better player and a better captain over the next few months.” Australian captain Ricky Ponting on his return home after his side lost the Ashes – Sydney Morning Herald

Defiant Nathan Rees declares he’s staying as NSW Premier – The Australian

Pre-selection

Scratching brings more for Bradfield preselection – Up to 20 Liberals are expected to slug it out for preselection for Brendan Nelson’s north shore seat of Bradfield after the decision yesterday by John Howard’s former chief of staff, Arthur Sinodinos, not to nominate – Sydney Morning Herald

Up to 20 eye off Brendan Nelson’s safe seat – The Australian

Another casualty in NSW Libs’ war of the Right – The simmering war within the Right faction of the Liberal Party in NSW has claimed another scalp, with a staffer of state upper house Liberal MP David Clarke tossed out of key party positions – The Australian

Pork barrels

Safe seats rate last for funds – State ministers in NSW regularly bypass their departments to deliver taxpayer-funded grants to electorates held by independent and marginal candidates, a review by the Auditor-General has found – Sydney Morning Herald

Health system

PM Kevin Rudd’s cash cure fails to lure nurses as key health reforms stall – The Australian

Tax on sins, cash grants to buy fresh food in bid to make us healthier – Brisbane Courier Mail

Price of alcohol, tobacco to rise under government blueprint – The price of alcohol and cigarettes would rise and glitzy marketing campaigns pitched at teenagers would be curbed under a radical blueprint to make Australians healthier and leaner – Melbourne Herald Sun

Law and order

Vigilante threat as court cash dries up – Prosecution of our most violent criminals was under threat due to a funding crisis, with the state’s top prosecutor warning of frustrated victims taking the law into their own hands – Sydney Daily Telegraph

Military justice system in tatters – The High Court unanimously declared the Australian Military Court unconstitutional yesterday, saying the legislation that created it in 2006 was flawed – Sydney Morning Herald

Teabagging’ shuts Australia’s top military court – The military judicial system covering 55,000 Australians in uniform has been declared invalid and the Federal Government is to rush in a replacement – and it’s all because of allegations of a wild night involving “tea-bagging” – Sydney Daily Telegraph

Military courts in tatters – Melbourne Age

The curious case that sank a court system – the Melbourne Age looks at the case the High Court ruled on

The arts

Brumby spurns calls for financial help to VCA – The State Government has rejected calls to provide a financial lifeline to the Victorian College of the Arts in the face of growing opposition to its merger with Melbourne University – Melbourne Age

Industrial relations

Minister sidelined in police pay talks – The Treasurer, Eric Roozendaal, has been called in to try to sort out the state’s police pay claim because the Police Minister, Tony Kelly, has failed to resolve the drawn-out dispute – Sydney Morning Herald

Security guards win right to strike on AFL Grand Final day – Melbourne Herald Sun

Pacific Brands admits to sackings backlash – The Australian

Transport

Moore bypasses NSW on rail funds – The Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, has appealed directly to the Rudd Government for help to build a light rail to one of city’s fastest growing areas – Sydney Morning Herald

Trade

Japan free-trade hopes dashed – certain win for the Democratic Party of Japan in Sunday’s election threatens to wreck Australia’s hopes for a comprehensive free trade agreement with its second-largest trading partner – The Australian

Economic matters

Queensland financial woes the worst – Queensland has sunk to the worst financial position of any state and has to borrow $10,077 for every man, woman and child in the next four years, a Queensland Parliament research document shows. This compares with borrowings of $3911 per capita in NSW and $3830 in Victoria for the same period – Brisbane Courier Mail

Opinions

Fear and loathing in NSW – Simon Benson in the Sydney Daily Telegraph declares that the smell of political death hangs over the NSW Government. And the cause, as always, is disunity.

The premier state of confusion – Sydney Daily Telegraph editorial says future state historians will be puzzled over this week’s events, and how a major political organisation managed to go so quickly from being the established party of government to a chaotic, ruinous joke.

Dare not sip this poisoned chalice – Miranda Devine on some friends seeking a job in high places – Sydney Morning Herald

For the people’s sake, we must reject a bill of rights – argues John Howard in the Sydney Morning Herald

Protesters have jumped the gun on plans for the VCA– says Sharman Pretty in the Melbourne Age. A final decision on how this arts model will work is still to be discussed.

Baillieu’s Libs have a chronic case of inertia – Paul Qustin the Melbourne Age believes new faces on the shadow frontbench would inject spark.

Expectations greatly lowered for health system fix – Peter van Onselen has changed the words on his website from “fixing our hospitals” to Improving our hospitals.” – The Australian

Elsewhere

Afghanistan

Poll uncertainty leaves Afghanistan on edge – Melbourne Age

Israel and Palestine

Obama edges Mid-East foes nearer – Barack Obama will use the threat posed by Iran’s fledgling nuclear weapons program as a means to bring Israel and the Palestinians together for a new peace summit scheduled for late next month – Melbourne Age

BUSINESS

Westfield Group offers $US2bn in bonds – The Australian

James Packer sells online employment agency Seek to pocket $500 million in 24 hours – Sydney
Daily Telegraph

Packer dares Stokes – James Packer has raised the stakes in his battle with Kerry Stokes over the future of Consolidated Media Holdings, selling the company’s 27 per cent stake in the job website Seek to prepare a share buyback that could cement his control – Sydney Morning Herald

ENVIRONMENT

Gorgon gets go-ahead as north-west queue forms – Sydney Morning Herald

MEDIA

James and Little Kerry’s endgame – Ian Verrender in the Sydney Morning Herald

Pay TV shrugs off figures for Nine’s new channel – Sydney Morning Herald

Triple M wants Eddie McGuire as $1 million breakfast trump – Melbourne Herald Sun

Business, sport: Herald adopts compact format – The weekday business and sports coverage of The Sydney Morning Herald will be combined and packaged in a smaller liftout from next month, the paper’s publisher, Fairfax Media, announced yesterday. The move to a quality tabloid format for the combined sections is in response to a growing demand by commuters for a more portable newspaper, Fairfax said – Sydney Morning Herald

LIFE

Motherhood

Drunk mums give birth; babies seized from unfit parents – Brisbane Courier Mail

Ethics and morality

We’re failing to nurture wisdom, uni chief asserts – Universities are value-free zones and need to reassert the primary purpose of education, building the ethical and moral character of students, a Sydney vice-chancellor has said – Sydney Morning Herald

Multi tasking

Multi-taskers lose the plot – and the ability to focus – Researchers found that people prone to juggling emails, web searches, text chats and videos performed worse than those who did one task at a time – Sydney Morning Herald