NSW: Double demerit points in force in NSW over Anzac weekend

AAP General News (Australia)
04-24-2008
NSW: Double demerit points in force in NSW over Anzac weekend

New South Wales Police are warning motorists to slow down over the Anzac Day long weekend
.. with double demerit points having taken effect since midnight.

Double demerit's now apply for speeding and seatbelt offences until midnight Sunday.

New South Wales Chief Traffic Services Commander JOHN HARTLEY says drivers should also
beware of water on the roads and road damage .. following a week of heavy rain in Sydney
.. the Hunter and the mid north coast.

AAP RTV krc/jec/wz/af

KEYWORD: ANZAC DEMERITS (SYDNEY)

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: 229 new police recruits to be sworn in tonight

AAP General News (Australia)
12-20-2007
NSW: 229 new police recruits to be sworn in tonight

SYDNEY, Dec 20 AAP - NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione will tonight swear in
his first batch of new recruits, at the Goulburn training college in central NSW.

The ranks of the NSW police force will swell to more than 15,100 officers with 229
probationary constables to be sworn in at the Goulburn parade ground at 6pm (AEDT).

The graduates from the Associate Diploma of Policing Practice are aged between 19 and
55, and include 155 men and 74 women.

This will be Mr Scipione's first swearing in ceremony as top dog, with the 27-year
police veteran only taking up the job in August.

"I joined the ranks of the NSW Police Force in 1980 as a general duties officer at
Hurstville and I have been constantly challenged and seen so many changes to operational
policing in the past 27 years," Mr Scipione said.

"I sincerely hop they find the experience of serving the people of NSW as exciting
and personally satisfying as I do."

The 229 recruits include dual Commonwealth Games swimming gold medallist, Lori Munz.

Ms Munz, 28, won two gold medals at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur games, and two World Cup
gold medals in 2001.

A car accident in 2000 shattered her hopes of competing in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

She gave up swimming just over two years ago.

After today's graduation, Ms Munz will take up a position at Rose Bay Local Area Command
in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

"It's a real thrill to be able to serve the community in thi way and I am really looking
forward to the challenge ahead of me," Ms Munz said.

"This is an exciting new chapter in my life, something very different, and I can't
wait to walk off the parade ground today and get on with the job."

The graduating class will also include three officers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander background, and recruits from a number of non-English speaking backgrounds, police
said.

The new recruits will be stationed at Local Area Commands across the state.

AAP ab/cmc

KEYWORD: RECRUITS

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed:Rates rise to their highest level in over 10 years =2

AAP General News (Australia)
08-08-2007
Fed:Rates rise to their highest level in over 10 years =2

In a statement accompanying its rates decision, RBA governor Glenn Stevens said the
high outcome of the consumer price index in the June quarter indicated a "less favourable"

outcome for inflation.

He said this indicated "that any further increases in inflation would take place from
a higher starting point than previously envisaged."

"Based on these considerations, the board judged that a somewhat more restrictive monetary
policy setting was required in order to keep inflation consistent with the target in the
medium term."

Commonwealth Securities chief economist Craig James said the RBA needed to always be
forward looking.

"It no doubt believes inflation could bubble a little bit higher, and it's acted accordingly
to be able to restrain growth," Mr James told Sky News.

"We certainly believe this will be the last interest rate hike we will see this year."

AAP cb/jlw

KEYWORD: RATES RBA 2 CANBERRA

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NT: Missing man fled after molesting young girl

AAP General News (Australia)
02-14-2007
NT: Missing man fled after molesting young girl

By Tara Ravens

DARWIN, Feb 14 AAP - A 69-year-old Perth tourist who prompted a missing persons search
in the Northern Territory fled after he was caught molesting a young girl in a hotel pool,
a court heard today.

The man was holidaying with family friends in Darwin earlier this year when he inappropriately
touched the 11-year-old, who pushed him away.

When asked by her father what he had done, the man replied: "I'm a nasty old bastard."

He then took off and was found six days later, on January 11, under bushes in Darwin city.

In Darwin Magistrates Court today, the man pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful
and indecent dealings with a child under 16.

Reading from a police charge sheet, prosecutor Dave Lewis said the man was known to
the girl and her family.

"The defendant arrived in Darwin from Perth for a vacation with the victim and her
family," he said.

"The defendant has known the victim for two-and-a-half years. He was considered a very
close friend and treated like a grandfather."

The young girl was having a spa with the elderly man on January 5, two days after they
arrived in Darwin, when he asked her for a cuddle.

"She cuddled him and then he placed his right hand down the front of her bathers and
proceeded to rub her pubic region," Mr Lewis said.

The young girl immediately told her brother and father of the incident, and the court
heard the man then fled the scene after he was confronted about what happened.

His defence lawyer Louise Bennett today requested a psychiatric report to be included
in his pre-sentence report.

When the man was found by police - following a number of missing persons alerts - he
was disoriented and lying under trees near the centre of the city of Darwin.

The elderly man was then taken to hospital "because he appeared disorientated and had
not take his medication for days", Mr Lewis said.

The court was not told why he was on medication.

Magistrate Sue Oliver ordered a psychiatric report and set down sentencing submission
for April 23. The man was remanded in custody.

AAP tr/jt/de

KEYWORD: SPA

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

WA: Main stories in The West Australian

AAP General News (Australia)
08-29-2006
WA: Main stories in The West Australian

PERTH, Aug 29 AAP - Main stories in The West Australian newspaper today:

Page 1: The chairwoman of a so-called independent committee which investigates the
deaths of children in WA has raised concerns about its lack of resources and autonomy
from the WA government. A staged rebuilding of Subiaco Oval has emerged as the frontrunner
to meet Perth's future stadium needs amid growing concerns within the state government
about the cost of a new venue.

Page 3: Perth city council will not say how much it will cost to send Lord Mayor Peter
Nattrass, three of his councillors and the city's chief executive on a trip to Scotland.

Page 5: The stand-off between the federal government and Telstra continued yesterday
with the telco warning commonwealth regulations were destroying value for shareholders.

World: Fifty years of military menace by North Korea over its southern neighbour has
evaporated as the communist nation's economy crumbled, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
said yesterday.

Business: Woodside Petroleum has launched a $1.2 billion hostile takeover bid for US
oil and gas producer Energy Partners. Stockbrokers yesterday warned potential investors
in Telstra to weigh up high dividend payments against the risk its share price may not
improve for up to two years.

Sport: Football heavyweights yesterday declared Fremantle ready to grab the AFL premiership
in the wake of its western derby mauling of West Coast.

AAP lk/evt

KEYWORD: MONITOR FRONTERS WA

) 2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Qld: Beattie dismisses calls for Upper House in Qld

AAP General News (Australia)
04-21-2006
Qld: Beattie dismisses calls for Upper House in Qld

By Nikki Todd and Johanna Leggatt

BRISBANE, April 21 AAP - Premier Peter Beattie has dismissed calls for the reintroduction
of an upper house in Queensland, saying his government was already accountable enough.

Former governor-general Bill Hayden opened a conference in Brisbane today calling for
the reintroduction of an upper house in the Queensland Parliament.

Queensland's upper house was abolished in 1922 by a Labor government and it's the only
Australian parliament without one.

Mr Beattie said an upper house was not necessary in Queensland as the Crime and Misconduct
Commission (CMC) had powerful watchdog responsibilities.

"We are the only state in Australia that has a CMC with the power that it has," Mr Beattie said.

"The CMC is more powerful than any upper house."

He said parliamentary committees were also independent and performed the same function
as a Senate, adding the community would never condone the election of more politicians.

"I am totally opposed to more politicians and I will never, ever, ever support a position
of the upper house because it means a lot more politicians," he said.

He said another house would be unnecessarily costly and provide little more accountability
than was already provided in the current parliamentary set-up.

"At the end of it, it costs the taxpayer a fortune for what?" Mr Beattie said.

"Accountability mechanisms are here now."

Dr Hayden said the watchdog function of a Senate was needed in Queensland. However,
he said it would be an "extremely difficult challenge" to convince people of the need
for change.

"I recall the conduct of constitutional referendums in this country, so few of which
have succeeded," he said.

AAP nt/sc/jt/jlw

KEYWORD: UPPER QLD

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Defence considering relaxing entry fitness criteria

AAP General News (Australia)
12-23-2005
Fed: Defence considering relaxing entry fitness criteria

With the number of recruits falling .. the Defence Force might soon start accepting
people it's currently rejecting.

Defence personnel Minister DE-ANNE KELLY says they're considering people who fall just
short of fitness requirements .. are overweight .. or with manageable medical conditions
such as asthma and less than perfect eyesight.

But she's told Southern Cross Radio those going to the frontline still need to be fit to fight.







The Australian newspaper said today around 10 per cent of defence applicants are rejected
on health grounds.

AAP RTV mb/wf/rt/bart

KEYWORD: RECRUITING (CANBERRA)

2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.