Radio And Television Midday Round Up

AAP General News (Australia)
08-30-1999
Radio And Television Midday Round Up
MIDDAY ROUND-UP: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 1130.

TIMOR POLL OPEN (DILI, East Timor)

Thousands of East Timorese are visiting polling stations to cast their ballots in a poll on
whether the troubled territory should accept an Indonesian government offer of autonomy.

Voting began on schedule at 8.30am (AEST) in 850 polling stations and is due to close at
6pm.

United Nations Secretary-General KOFI ANNAN has appealed to East Timor's pro and
anti-independence leaders to respect the democratic process and maintain the peace in today's
vote.

In Australia, East Timorese will be able vote between noon and 9pm at nine centres around
the country.

Nobel peace laureate JOSE RAMOS-HORTA and National Council for Timorese Resistance head
JOAO CARRASCALAO will cast their votes at Liverpool in Sydney's south-west at noon.





East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, was invaded by Indonesia in 1975 and formally
annexed as a province the following year.



TIMOR AUST (CANBERRA)

Foreign Minister ALEXANDER DOWNER says the peace accord reached between opposing factions
in East Timor is a good sign for today's autonomy ballot, but it won't guarantee lasting
peace.

Mr DOWNER says previous ceasefires did little to stop clashes, but he's confident the
ballot will take place, even if it means rescheduling the vote in some areas.

Mr DOWNER also noted that both Indonesia's President and Opposition leader have stated they
would abide by a result, expected around September 5 or 6.

Meanwhile, medical supplies at the Top End have been boosted and the defence force is on
standby if violence erupts in response to today's ballot.

Australian Defence Force spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel DAVID TYLER says Australians could be
evacuated from East Timor very quickly.



WIK DEMOCRATS (CANBERRA)

The Australian Democrats are set to join Labor in rejecting the Northern Territory regime
for deciding native title under Prime Minister JOHN HOWARD's 10-point plan.

Democrats leader MEG LEES says her party has problems with the NT proposal and a key issue
is the lack of security.

The Wik native title legislation, passed with the support of independents BRIAN HARRADINE
and MAL COLSTON, allows states and territories to establish their own regimes for deciding
native title.

But any of those plans can be overturned in the Senate.

With the independents now losing their ability to control the Senate, Labor's Aboriginal
Affairs spokesman DARYL MELHAM has vowed to sabotage the Northern Territory's scheme.



REEVES (CANBERRA)

The federal opposition says Prime Minister JOHN HOWARD will have egg on his face after the
release today of a major report on land rights in the Northern Territory.

A parliamentary review will today be handed down into the Reeves report on the Aboriginal
Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act.

The Act is the mechanism for granting land to Aboriginal people in the NT, as well as
establishing the land councils and regulating mining on Aboriginal land.

Labor's Aboriginal affairs spokesman DARYL MELHAM says Mr HOWARD will not be pleased with
the report into people's reaction to the REEVES review.

Australian Democrats Senator ADEN RIDGEWAY has warned that Aboriginal communities in the
Northern Territory could end up with no power at all if the big land councils are broken up.



BOPS (CANBERRA)

The Australian Bureau of Statistics says Australia's current account deficit has widened to
$9.356 billion in the June quarter, seasonally adjusted, from a revised $8.283 billion in the
March quarter.

An AAP survey of economists showed they had been predicting the current account deficit to
come in at around $9.5 billion, with forecasts ranging from $9.4 billion to $9.6 billion.



RETAIL (CANBERRA)

A major report into the dominance of the big supermarket chains will make recommendations
which will try to strike a balance with the needs of small retailers.

Liberal backbencher BRUCE BAIRD, who headed up the parliamentary inquiry into the retail
sector, will hand down the committee's report today.



MAGISTRATES (SYDNEY)

A report released today says a majority of magistrates believe it takes two to tango in
domestic violence.

In the survey on attitudes to apprehended violence orders, 54 per cent of New South Wales
magistrates who responded agreed with the statement it takes two to tango, while more than a
third disagreed.

The Judicial Commission of NSW approached 122 magistrates and just over half responded.



PLANNING (MELBOURNE)

Victorian Planning Minister ROB MACLELLAN has rejected claims he acted improperly in a
nightclub project involving a friend of his son.

It's been reported Mr MACLELLAN intervened twice last year to give developer NICK KOSTAS
temporary approval to operate the nightclub without meeting a condition sought by the fire
brigade to complete traffic management works.

The Empire nightclub opened in Windsor in April last year.

Mr MACLELLAN says his involvement is only related to the timing for a liquor licensing
hearing.

He says Mr KOSTAS got his planning approval from Victorian Civil and Administrative
Tribunal and his liquor licence from the Licensing Commission.



DIE VIC (MELBOURNE)

The Age newspaper says a doctor who helped a Melbourne woman with multiple sclerosis in an
apparent assisted suicide four months ago has reported her death to the coroner in a bid to
reopen the euthanasia debate.

President of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society of Victoria, RODNEY SYME, has told the
newspaper he reported the death of the woman to clarify the law and provoke debate.



BABYSITTER (BRISBANE)

Sunshine Coast police have launched an intensive hunt for 16-year-old baby-sitter JESSICA
GAUDIE, who disappeared on Saturday night.

She was last seen at a home in Nambour, 100km north of Brisbane, where she had been hired
to look after three small children.

Police spokesman BRIAN SWIFT says the girl left the premises before the home owners
returned without taking her purse or other belongings.

The children were found safe in the house.



BRIEFLY:

Residents and tourists are evacuating parts of North Carolina's barrier islands as Hurricane
Dennis churns offshore, threatening the coast with wild winds and surging tides.


Three girls from the same school are in intensive care in a Melbourne hospital after
contracting the potentially fatal meningococcal disease.


More than 1,000 drag queens and their admirers are expected to fill Sydney's Star City Casino
showroom tonight for Sydney's annual drag queen awards, known as the DIVAs.


IN FINANCE NEWS:

At 1120 AEST, the all ordinaries index was down 32.7 points at 2987.5.

The Australian dollar is currently worth 62.88 down from Friday's close of 63.34.

It was also at 0.6003 euro down from 0.6047.

Gold in Sydney is trading at $US253.30 an ounce, down from $US253.80.



AND IN SPORTS NEWS:

RUGBY AUST (SYDNEY)

Australian rugby coach ROD MACQUEEN names his squad for the World Cup today with JOHN EALES
to return as captain and STEPHEN LARKHAM also back from long-term injury.

The Wallabies' Cup chances were boosted by their record 28-7 win over New Zealand on
Saturday and MACQUEEN says the return of EALES and LARKHAM is another bonus.

The 30-man squad leaves in just over three weeks for its base in Dublin and plays its first
game in Belfast on October 3 against Romania.



BRIEFLY IN SPORT:

TIGER WOODS has fended off a late challenge from PHIL MICKELSON to win the NEC Invitational in
Akron, Ohio.


Australian golfer KARRIE WEBB has finished third in the LPGA Oldsmobile Classic behind
Americans DOTTIE PEPPER and KELLI KUEHNE.


Australia has topped the Olympic qualifying events in the world rowing championships in Canada
with a total of seven medals in a tie with Germany.



ENDS MIDDAY ROUND-UP

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