HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 14:45, Aug 17

AAP General News (Australia)
08-17-2001
HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 14:45, Aug 17

CANBERRA - The government was committed to fine tuning the GST on caravan park rents
and in other areas, Prime Minister John Howard said today. (Tax Howard, see also Tax sidebars,
Poll Howard, TAX NIGHTLEAD to come)

MELBOURNE - The federal government would consider tightening immigration laws to prevent
asylum seekers abusing the appeals system, Prime Minister John Howard said today. (Detention
Howard)

SYDNEY - Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock today said the courts were contributing
to the large number of illegal immigrants arriving in Australia because of the broad definition
applied to refugees. (Detention Ruddock Lead)

BRISBANE - Children were being traumatised by confinement in migrant detention centres
and should be released, child health specialists said today. (Detention Children)

SYDNEY - Better chances of gaining refugee status and the prospect of support benefits
made Australia an attractive destination for asylum seekers, Immigration Minister Philip
Ruddock said today. (Boat Ruddock)

DETENTION NIGHTLEAD to come

CANBERRA - Prime Minister John Howard said today it was not in Australia's interests
to have all of the airlines in the region owned or controlled by overseas interests. (Qantas
Howard)

SYDNEY - The Queensland government would do all it could to attract a new Qantas low-cost
carrier's base to Cairns, Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said today. (Qantas Beattie)

QANTAS NIGHTLEAD to come

DARWIN - Federal Labor Party campaign money was making the Country Liberal Party's
job of retaining power at tomorrow's Northern Territory election difficult, Chief Minister
Denis Burke said. (PollNT Second Daylead, POLLNT NIGHTLEAD to come)

DARWIN - Politics in the Northern Territory is a surreal business. (PollNT Backgrounder)

CANBERRA - Australia's low dollar had substantially boosted its trade position with
most of its major trading partners, official figures showed today. (Trade)

CANBERRA - Prime Minister John Howard said today wage claims were not yet out of hand
but were on the rise. (Wages Howard, ECONOMY NIGHTLEAD to come)

CANBERRA - Peter Costello has given the country a strong hint of life under a Costello-Abbott
government. (NEWSCOPE FEDERAL to come)

SYDNEY - Staff at Sydney's Glebe morgue acted illegally by experimenting on dead bodies
and removing organs without permission, a report had found. (Morgue)

SYDNEY - Pathologists have welcomed the findings of an inquiry into ethical and criminal
behaviour at one of Australia's biggest morgues. (Morgue Pathologists)

SYDNEY - The former director of Sydney's Glebe Morgue will be allowed to return as
a forensic pathologist despite a report finding that his staff had acted illegally. (Morgue
Knowles)

MORGUE NIGHTLEAD to come

BRISBANE - A Muslim butcher who dismembered his newborn baby girl today lost an appeal
against his murder conviction in the Queensland Court of Appeal. (Ali)

PORT MORESBY - An Australian Catholic priest was shot dead in his bed last night after
a gang broke into a monastery in the hills outside Port Moresby. (PNG Priest)

SYDNEY - More Australians are spending their weekends catching up on work or preparing
for the working week ahead, a new survey has revealed. (Weekend)

BRISBANE - Global media group News Corp Ltd expects to lift earnings 25 per cent in
the current year as its television, cable and movie businesses become the company's core
growth engines. (News Corp Daylead)

BRISBANE - Media giant News Corp Ltd hopes a company transforming deal to buy the United
States' largest satellite television business DirecTV was not far off. (News DirecTV)

BRISBANE - News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch has moved to deflect blame for the company's
losses from son Lachlan following its disastrous investment in junior telco One.Tel Ltd.

(News One Tel)

NEWS CORP NIGHTLEAD to come

DULUTH - Stuart Appleby emotionally revisited the death of his wife three years ago
after finishing in a share of second place on the opening day of the US PGA Championship
today. (Golf PGA Aust Nightlead)

LEEDS - Ricky Ponting has defended his right to stand his ground as England slips fielder
Mark Ramprakash celebrated a crucial no-catch on the opening day of the fourth cricket
Test here. (Cricket Aust Nightlead)

LEEDS - Nerves fluttering, Ricky Ponting snicked his third ball of the Headingley Test
towards Mark Ramprakash, his heart in his mouth as another failure became a frightening
possibility. (Cricket Aust View, see also Cricket Aust Factbox)

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KEYWORD: HIGHLIGHTS NATIONAL

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