AAP Internet Bulletin 0900 Thursday, Dec 3, 1998

AAP General News (Australia)
12-03-1998
AAP Internet Bulletin 0900 Thursday, Dec 3, 1998

[A][BUSHFIRE VIC][VIC]

Firefighters devastated by death of five colleagues

MELBOURNE - Victorias volunteer firefighters have been devastated by the deaths
of five colleagues who died battling the states first major bushfire for summer last night.

The five, all from the Geelong area, were killed as they fought to protect the small country
town of Linton, near Ballarat.

It was the single biggest loss of lives for the Country Fire Authority (CFA) since
Victorias Ash Wednesday bushfires of February 16, 1983, when 75 people were killed in Victoria
and South Australia.

CFA spokesman Trevor Roche said the tragedy was hard felt.

"The death of these firefighters is really a tragic circumstance for the CFA," Mr Roche told
reporters early this morning.

"It has devastated our members and our friends but also anyone who is associated or has been
associated with the CFA.

"I mean no one can imagine a worse start to any fire season than this."

Police said names of the victims would not be immediately releases as they were yet to be
positively identified.

Colleagues of the dead volunteers were taken back to their Geelong headquarters, about 80kms
southwest of Linton, early this morning.

"Tonight were providing support for the families involved with this tragedy," Geelong CFA
manager Lex Deman told Channel 7.

The Victoria Police extended its sympathy to families of the five.

"Victoria Police express its deepest sympathy to the families of the deceased and to our
colleagues in the CFA (Country Fire Authority) at this sad time," a spokeswoman said early
today.

She said it was likely that it would be some time before the names of the victims were
released.





[A][ECONOMY][FED]

Costello denies economy could overheat

CANBERRA - Federal Treasurer Peter Costello today denied the Australian economy would
overheat following strong economic growth and an interest rate cut.

Mr Costello predicted strong economic growth in the third quarter could lead to the
government revising up its 2.75 per cent growth forecast for the fiscal year ending June 30,
1999.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported economic growth of one per cent in the third
quarter and five per cent in the year to the end of the quarter.

The Reserve Bank of Australia yesterday lowered its overnight cash rate to 4.75 per cent
from five per cent.

Asked if the Australian economy could overheat, Mr Costello said: "I dont think so.

"We wont be sustaining five per cent growth through the course of next year, and if you
like, your rate cut is looking down 12 months, 18 months.

"Saying in 12 months we expect things to be a little more troublesome, the world is going
weaker, this will impact on Australia."

Asked if the strong growth data would prompt the government to revise up its 1998-99
economic growth, Mr Costello said that it was possible.

"Before the (October) election, we said 2.75 per cent," he told ABC Radio.

"You would have to say after (third quarter growth results) that if anything you could
revise that up.

Asked if the Australian economy could overheat, he said "I dont think so."

"We wont be sustaining five per cent growth through the course of next year, and if you
like, your rate cut is looking down 12 months, 18 months, saying in 12 months we expect things
to be a little more troublesome, the world is going weaker, this will impact on Australia.

Mr Costello said he would not talk about the future direction of interest rates.

He indicated employment would continue to grow and strengthen into the early part of next
year.

"Yet with about half the world in recession, you wont sustain five per cent growth
throughout the course of 1999, so you would expect that the strong employment growth that
were seeing now will probably plateau Id say over the course of 1999."





[A][BOMB][FED]

Public should be alert for more letter bombs - police

CANBERRA - The public should be alert for more suspect packages in the post after 25 letter
bombs were found addressed to past and present tax office and human rights commission staff
this week, police warned today.

Australian Taxation Office staff nationwide were put on alert yesterday after 24 explosive
parcels were found addressed to senior current and former employees, and Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission staff after another exploded in the Canberra mail office.

Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Bill Stoll said there was a possibility
more bombs could be found in the mail and urged the public to be alert for suspect packages.

"Were satisfied that as a result of our bomb team sweep and the assistance of Australia
Post, weve captured the ones that are live," Mr Stoll told Network Nine.

"I dont want to heighten public concern, weve got a very good system in place, but there
is always that possibility that one did slip through earlier in the day."

There was also some concern that letter bombs addressed to country areas might not reach
destinations until today.

Three of the letter bombs were intercepted at private letter boxes yesterday, including the
Sydney home of Federal Privacy Commissioner Moira Scollay, newspapers reported today.

Ms Scollay was the former head of the Child Support Agency and the bomb had reached her
home on Tuesday.

Her husband had begun unwrapping the package before becoming suspicious of wires and
calling police.

Other devices were found at former federal sex discrimination commissioner Sue Walpoles
home in Melbourne, the papers said.





[A][TAX BUSINESS][FED]

Government tax legislation cumbersome and draconian: experts

CANBERRA - The federal governments tax legislation was today criticised by tax experts as
cumbersome and draconian, and they expressed concern about further watering down.

The 16 bills, under which a 10 per cent GST will start from July 1, 2000, was introduced
into federal parliament yesterday.

Tax principal with advisers Greenwoods and Freehills, Anna Carey, said the government had
failed in its pledge to deliver simplicity.

Ms Carey said the volumes of reform were much more cumbersome than those needed to install a
GST in New Zealand.

"Once again we have unfortunately got a very complicated set of rules that Australian
business will have to try and comply with," she told ABC Radio.

"We were expecting something tougher than New Zealand, but these provisions are fairly
draconian."

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) expressed initial enthusiasm for the
detail of the legislation.

But ACCI chIef executive Mark Paterson said a watering down of the package was a real danger
and if food was exempted the whole system could be thrown out of balance.

"Its not just the amount of revenue that would be denied tax collections by taking food out
but the complexity of the compliance costs and the burden imposed on small business would be
totally unreasonable," he told ABC Radio.

"So continuing to urge further change in our view is not appropriate."





[T][LEAGUE CHARGERS][RL]

Chargers expected to close today

GOLD COAST - Players and staff with the Gold Coast Chargers rugby league team are expected
to be told this morning the club will close down.

The Chargers board met for two hours last night but refused to announce the clubs fate
until players and staff are advised.

An official announcement on the clubs fate will not be made until a 10am (AEST) news
conference.

Its expected the Chargers will follow Adelaide into oblivion to leave 17 teams in next
years premiership.

Chargers coach Phil Economidis is reportedly seeking legal advice to ensure hes paid for
1999 and 2000, the term of his coaching contract.

Hes told the Courier-Mail he signed up again after two seasons with the club only because
he had written assurance from the NRL the club will play in 1999.





[F][Exxon-Mobil][]

Exxon-Mobile big deal to cost 9,000 jobs

NEW YORK Amid the superlatives surrounding Exxon's purchase of Mobil the richest deal
ever, the world's biggest company came the harsh reality: Some 9,000 jobs worldwide will be
lost.

Exxon agreed Tuesday to acquire Mobil for $US73.7 billion in stock, combining the biggest
U.S. Oil companies and reuniting two of the biggest pieces left by the 1911 government breakup
of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil empire.

The new Exxon Mobil Corp. Is the latest example of rapid consolidation in the oil industry,
where profits have been battered by a deep price slump caused by worldwide overproduction and
weak demand.

"We need to face some facts. The world has changed," Mobil chairman Lucio Noto said. "The
easy things are behind us."

Oil companies are to seeking to slash costs as a way to boost profits, especially with the
low prices not expected to recover for years. Exxon and Mobil expect that together they will be
able to save $2.8 billion annually, much of that coming from eliminating overlapping businesses
and workers.

The projected job cuts would equal about seven percent of the companies' worldwide work
force. Executives did not speculate on details.

Some employees, recognising their industry is in the throes of a dramatic makeover, said
Mobil wouldn't have lasted on its own.

But Kenny Cox, a 62-year-old franchisee of a Mobil station near its Virginia headquarters,
is worried that the new company will have no room for his small operation.

"If they strip away the franchise at my age, what am I going to do?" said Cox, whose
42-year-old son, Michael, works with him.





[S][SQUASH WORLD][SQSH]

Hill only Aussie through to quarters

Temperamental Anthony Hill is the only Australian through to the quarter finals of the world
squash championship in Doha following Billy Hadrells loss to world No.1 Peter Nicol.

Seventh-seeded Hill was not troubled by unseeded Englishman Marcus Berrett, winning their
third round match 15-4 15-8 15-6.

But the fiery HILL faces another encounter with the Discipline Committee of the Professional
Squash Association for using abusive language to a tournament official when he refused to pay
for re-stringing his rackets.

Hadrell gave Scotsman Nicol a nasty fright before going down in four games, while second
seed Jonathon Power of Canada breezed through and unseeded pair Stefan Casteleyn and John White
also moved into the quarters.





[I][US NANNY TABLOID][UK]

Watchdog says tabloid right to pay for Woodward story

LONDON - The Press Complaints Commission ruled today that a British newspaper was justified
in buying a story from the family of Louise Woodward, the au pair convicted in Massachusetts of
killing the baby in her care.

The sum of money paid by the Daily Mail for an interview with Woodward's parents was not
revealed.

But the industry's self-regulatory body rejected complaints about it, saying the article
published last year was in the public interest. Payment had been necessary to get the interview
and did not provide a profit for the Woodwards, the commission said.

Woodward, convicted of killing eight-month-old Matthew Eappen, was originally found guilty
of second-degree murder in 1997. The verdict was reduced to manslaughter by the trial judge,
who then set her free.

The Daily Mail paid for an interview with her parents between the first and second verdicts
in the case - before the conviction was reduced from murder to manslaughter.

The voluntary press code says payments can be made to criminals or their associates if there
is a public interest defence and if it is necessary to secure publication.

"Payment was necessary because of the obvious financial plight of the Woodwards," the
commission said.

The article was in the public interest, it ruled, because the interviews released new
information to the public and formed "an integral part of the newspaper's campaign on a matter
of significant public controversy".

"On each of the central tests applied by the commission ... the newspaper's justification
under the code could not be faulted," the announcement said.

The commission said the money was used by Woodward's mother, Sue, to help her daughter's
legal fight, and there was nothing left over.





[T][GOLF OPEN][GOLF][]

Australian Open golf begins in perfect conditions

ADELAIDE - The first players have just teed off in the Australian Open at Royal Adelaide in
perfect conditions.

With controversy raging about the toughness of the redesigned layout at the course which
last staged the Open in 1962, players are sure to welcome today's mild weather.

Among the early starters are veteran Victorian Bob Shearer who launched his career at Royal
Adelaide where he won the Australian Amateur Championship 30 years ago.

Tournament and crowd favourite Greg Norman is due off soon.

He is playing with New Zealand's Frank Nobilo and last start winner Stephen Leaney of
Western Australia.





[F][MARKETS][][]

Morning roundup of the world's financial markets

SYDNEY - In New York, blue-chip stocks fell sharply today as Boeing and Sears provided quick
reminders that an improving economic outlook won't mean an immediate boost to business.

At 2 P.M. (0600 AEDT) on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 134.39 at
8,999.15, slipping below 9,000 for the second day in a row. Combined, Boeing and Sears sliced
the equivalent of 35 points off the blue-chip barometer.

Broader stock indicators also pulled back sharply today as investors locked in gains for a
third straight session following last week's return to record levels.

Most popular measures rebounded by Tuesday's close, but analysts said it was apparent that
investors are growing nervous about pushing prices higher with so many worries about the U.S.
And global economies still not fully resolved.

While a series of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve helped restore confidence and
should spark new borrowing and spending, late Tuesday's update from Boeing and today's by Sears
Roebuck showed that it may take time before any improvement shows up on the bottom line.

Boeing was down 6 at 33 following the latest in a series of profit warnings over the past
year from the struggling aircraft maker. The company said late Tuesday it will cut 20,000 more
jobs over the next two years, once again pointing to slack demand from the sickly Asian
economy.

The Dow was also weighed down today by Sears, which fell 2 to 42 9/16 after reporting weak
November sales and reducing its profit forecast.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 11.31 at 1,163.97, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq
composite index was down 8.37 at 1,995.38.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by an 8-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange,
and by a 7-to-5 ratio on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The NYSE composite index was down 4.97 at 568.36, and the American Stock Exchange composite
index was down 5.18 at 657.82.

In London, shares closed lower with retailers upset by the veiled profits warning from
Arcadia and defence issues hit by Boeing's plans to cut production rates next year, dealers
said.

Sentiment was also affected by opening losses on Wall Street, where the DJIA -- down
100-plus points when London closed -- reacted to weakness in Boeing.

The FTSE 100 index closed a net 30.3 points down at 5507.2, having plumbed to a low of
5489.5 by 3:14 PM.

The FTSE 250 settled 17.0 off at 4804.4 and the FTSE Small-Cap 2.7 adrift at 2036.8.

In Frankfurt, shares closed lower extending losses following the weaker opening on Wall
Street after facing pressure through the day from a combination of a weakening dollar and
increased nervousness over economic fundamentals, dealers said.

The Xetra DAX closed at 4,712.20, down 64.98 from yesterday's Xetra close, after trading a
range of 4,676.47/4,879.35.

In floor trade, the DAX closed 90.04 lower at 4,691.69.

The DAX100 was 40.02 lower at 2,300.35, the CDAX was trading down 5.16 at 407.02 and the
MDAX was 18.26 lower at 3,894.32.

In Tokyo, share prices closed higher on a late buying surge in cash and futures, but with
volume light on growing caution over the near-term outlook for Wall Street, brokers said.

The Nikkei 225 closed up 151.21 points at 14,986.62, off a low of 14,781.78 and a high of
15,011.09.

The Topix index closed up 4.89 points at 1,147.15, while the Nikkei 300 index was up 0.89
points at 228.78.

In Hong Kong, share prices closed the morning higher on renewed interest following the sharp
correction over the past two days, dealers said.

The Hang Seng index closed the session up 155.46 points at 10,131.31, off a high of
10,187.81 and a low of 10,053.14.

In Sydney, shares are likely to succumb to another large selloff on Wall Street and weaker
base metal prices.

Yesterdays rally after the rate cut from the Reserve Bank could be shortlived as attention
focusses on the problems of shrinking markets offshore, highlighted by announcements of job
reductions at Boeing and in the Exxon-Mobil merger.

Rumours that an Australian insurance company, reportedly AMP, was scouting again in the UK
for a takeover opportunity may provoke interest in that stock.

On SYCOM overnight the December share price index closed 12 points lower at 2786.0, a 25
point premium to the physical.

Yesterday, the Australian sharemarket rose almost one per cent following a much-anticipated
cut in official interest rates, brokers said.

The benchmark all ordinaries index stacked on 26.9 points to 2761.0, coming off a peak of
2766.2.

The Reserve Bank of Australia announced a 25 basis point reduction in the cash rate
yesterday to 4.75 per cent.

Brokers said stocks across the board were stronger, especially the interest-rate sensitive
banking stocks.

"A few banks moved quickly to lower rates and the market took that positively," Macquarie
Nevitts client adviser Steve Mayne said.





[I][US-Mideast][][]

US rejects Netanyahu's pullout conditions

WASHINGTON - The US government dismissed new Israeli conditions for a pullback on the West
Bank and demanded Wednesday that the Wye accord with the Palestinians "should be implemented as
signed."

The pullback is an obligation, State Department spokesman James P. Rubin said in a
statement: "We do not think it is appropriate to add new conditions."

At the same time, the U.S. spokesman condemned an attack on an Israeli soldier in Ramallah,
an Arab town on the West Bank, which he said "is clearly the kind of violence that has no place
in the peace process."

In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Wednesday that troop
pullbacks would be delayed unless Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, stops saying he will
establish a Palestinian state next May, whatever the outcome of negotiations with Israel; that
incitement of rioters be halted; and that Israel alone will decide which Palestinian prisoners
to free under October's Wye accord signed in rural Maryland.

Earlier Wednesday, an Arab street cleaner in Jerusalem was murdered, apparently by an
Israeli extremist.

The State Department's swift rejection of the Israeli conditions puts the administration on
a collision course with Israel little more than a week before a scheduled trip there by
President Bill Clinton.

Clinton spoke confidently this week of the Wye accord being carried out despite what he said
are "bumps in the road."

Arafat, during a visit here this week, repeatedly asserted his hopes for a state and called
east Jerusalem "occupied territory" that Israel is obliged to surrender to the Arabs under U.N.
Security Council resolutions at the end of the 1967 and 1973 Middle East wars.

The administration had urged Arafat to soft-pedal his goals in advance of talks with Israel.
When he persisted, Rubin and other administration officials were mildly critical and included
Netanyahu's assertion he will never yield any part of Jerusalem in their criticism.





[I][Sheppard Case][][]

Ohio Supreme Court allows Sheppard case to proceed

CLEVELAND - Dr. Sam Sheppard's son won permission from the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday
to pursue a lawsuit aimed at clearing Sheppard's name once and for all in the slaying that
inspired TV's "The Fugitive."

Sheppard was convicted and sent to prison for the 1954 beating death of his wife, Marilyn,
then was acquitted at a second trial in 1966. But his family wants a more definitive finding
than a verdict of not guilty.

By a 4-3 vote, Ohio's high court rejected prosecutors' efforts to block the
wrongful-imprisonment suit filed by Sam Reese Sheppard, Sheppard's son.

The younger Sheppard has waged a decade-long campaign to have his father's name cleared. He
could collect an estimated $2 million if he wins the suit, which could come to trial late next
summer or early fall.

Sheppard's 51-year-old son said he was relieved by the ruling and surprised the court let
him go forward with a lawsuit that could show Ohio officials made a mistake in prosecuting his
father.

Prosecutors said they will ask the court to reconsider.

The elder Sheppard maintained he was sleeping downstairs at the couple's home on Lake Erie
when a bushy-haired intruder sneaked up to his wife's bedroom, killed her and knocked him
unconscious when he tried to stop him.

Nonetheless, a jury convicted him of murder. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the verdict
in 1964, ruling he was denied a fair trial because of the heavy publicity. At a retrial that
made a star out of defense attorney F. Lee Bailey, Sheppard was acquitted. He died in 1970 of
liver failure.

Sheppard's son believes DNA and other evidence indicate Mrs. Sheppard was slain by Richard
Eberling, a window-washer for the Sheppards. Eberling denied he committed the crime. He died in
prison earlier this year while serving time for another murder.

To win a wrongful-imprisonment declaration, Dr. Sheppard would have to be declared innocent
by a judge a stronger statement than a not-guilty verdict.





[A][WIRRAWAY][FED][]

WW2 RAAF wreck and two airmen found in PNG

CANBERRA - The remains of two Australian airmen who disappeared during a routine flight over
Papua New Guinea during World War II have been found in the wreckage of their aircraft.

Veterans Affairs Minister Bruce Scott said the pair had been positively identified as RAAF
Flight Lieutenant Denis Jack Unkles, the pilot, and Lieutenant John Rawden Fetherstonhaugh, his
army observer.

Mr Scott said next-of-kin had been informed and Flight Lieutenant Unkles son Peter and
grandson Anton visited the crash site in the rugged PNG highlands before excavation work
started.

The remains will be transferred to the Lae War Cemetery where a full military funeral will
be held in mid-January.

"I hope that the next-of-kin of the aircraft crew will be able to attend the ceremony and
the RAAF is providing assistance in this regard," he said in a statement.

Mr Scott said the pair were aboard a RAAF Wirraway aircraft that departed the Gusap Strip on
April 15, 1944, for an operational reconnaissance of the Wantoat area.

They never returned. Their fate remained a mystery until aircraft wreckage was found this
year in the rugged Finisterre Ranges, 80km north-west of Lae.

Mr Scott said the site was covered in dense jungle and the RAAF recovery team had to work
under extremely arduous conditions.

"The topsoil and vegetation was about two metres deep and required extensive excavation.
Constant rain and inaccessibility of the site also hampered the digging," he said.





[S][GRIDIRON WORLD][GRID]

Australia invited to gridiron World Cup

NEW YORK - Australia is one of eight nations invited to the inaugural World Cup of American
football, to be played in Palermo, Sicily next year.

Amateur teams have been invited from Australia, the United States, Canada, Finland, Italy,
Japan, Mexico and Sweden for the June 24-July 4 tournament.

The US team would be made up of players who have completed their college eligibility by the
start of the tournament and not signed a professional contract.

Each nation will play three games under US college rules, leading to a championship game.

KEYWORD: NETNEWS 0900

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