HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 14:30, Dec 2 = 2

AAP General News (Australia)
12-02-2009
HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 14:30, Dec 2 = 2

AUCKLAND - New research has proven what many Aussies long suspected - Australia is
a magnet for New Zealand's most unskilled workers. (NZ Aust)



WELLINGTON - An inquest will begin in New Zealand on Wednesday into the death of two
brothers from Australia crushed by an ice fall at Fox Glacier in January. (NZ Miranda)

NZ Miranda Wrap to come.

SYDNEY - Jimmy Barnes says the reformed Cold Chisel will rock the house at the Sydney
Telstra 500 this weekend to keep up with younger bands like The Living End and Grinspoon.

(Chisel with pix)

SYDNEY - Kate Ritchie says she leaves her radio gig of two years a much more confident
person (Ritchie, to come).

CANBERRA - The demand for much needed respite has doubled over the past few years,
resulting in fewer hours available to carers each week, new data shows. Embargoed (Disability).

CANBERRA - Over the past 10 years funding for indigenous health programs has increased
by 245 per cent but there's been no appreciable improvement in outcomes, a new report
suggests. (Indigenous)(Embargoed until 0001 AEDT on Thursday Dec 3)

SYDNEY - Australians lack of consumer knowledge on product warranties is costing them
billions of dollars a year, new research shows. (Warranties)(Embargoed to 0001 AEDT Thursday,
Dec 3)

SYDNEY - Australia's most notorious terrorist Willie Brigitte could be released from
a French jail in the new year, after having served less than half his sentence for conspiring
to blow up the nation's only nuclear reactor and the power grid. (Brigitte)

SYDNEY - Overtime payments to Corrective Services staff cost NSW taxpayers more than
$40 million in the past year, the state's auditor-general has found. (Auditor)

Seeking more/wrap on merit.

SYDNEY - The national Emergency Alert system cannot be relied upon on its own to save
lives, the NSW government says. (Bushfires NSW SMS)

SYDNEY - NSW is on track to record its first annual drop in assaults in more than 20
years, with tough new laws imposed on the state's most violent pubs and clubs credited
for the decline. (Pubs)

Pubs Wrap to come.

SYDNEY - A 12-year-old boy is facing possible criminal action for throwing a rock at
a suburban Sydney train, while three teenagers have been charged after a police pursuit
of a stolen car, police say. (Young)

SYDNEY - Motorists in NSW have been warned there will be an increased police presence
over the Christmas holiday period in a bid to combat a road toll that is already much
higher than last year. (Roads NSW)

SYDNEY - The operators of two NSW companies are facing legal action after allegedly
underpaying staff thousands of dollars. (Underpay)

SYDNEY - A man has died in hospital a week after falling and suffering serious head
injuries at a property in Sydney's eastern suburbs, police say. (Head)

SYDNEY - Decision by judge who heard murder trial of mentally ill Chinese student,
Xinfei Gu, accused of murdering Sydney cabbie (Gu to come)

SYDNEY - Advocacy groups want legal changes to boost problem gamblers' chances of suing
their favourite venues (Gambling)



SYDNEY - Australian Tourism Export Council conference, including Tourism Australia's
new five-year plan. (ATEC)

MELBOURNE - A 52-year-old man who had sex with a 15-year-old-girl placed in his care
by Victoria's Department of Human Services ran away with the teen when authorities became
aware of the relationship, a court has heard. (McNair Wrap)

MELBOURNE - A 23-year-old female accused of murdering a legally blind woman as she
walked her dogs will be moved to a secure prison unit for psychiatric treatment, a court
has heard. (Cooper)

MELBOURNE - Teenage drivers were racing at speeds of up to 150km/h when one of the
cars crashed, killing four teenagers, a Melbourne court has heard (Farrugia)

Farrugia Wrap to come.

MELBOURNE - Victorian police are aiming to keep the state's road toll under 300 in
2009 but remain staggered at the high number of drink drivers they are encountering in
the latest road blitz. (Raid)

Raid Wrap to come.

MELBORUNE - Contested hearing for union official charged with swearing, Melbourne Magistrates
Court. (Theodorou)

MELBOURNE - Drenching Spring rain has failed to break Victoria's drought, with dams
at their second lowest level ever going into summer. (Water Vic)

MELBOURNE - Victoria Police will spend $22 million fitting out members with Los Angeles-style
bulletproof vests in a bid to deal with street violence. (Vests)

MELBOURNE - A mannequin factory has gone up in flames, ending a business that had stood
in Melbourne's inner suburbs for over 15 years. (Mannequin)

BRISBANE - The body of a man has been found in a paddock alongside a road on the Gold
Coast. (Body)

BRISBANE - Permanent air services to western and northern Queensland will resume with
the Queensland government signing new long-term regional air service contracts. (Macair)

BRISBANE - Environment Minister Peter Garrett expected to release final decision on
Traveston Dam, after vetoing it in a draft decision. (Traveston to come)

BRISBANE - A Queensland government employee who stole more than $300,000 from needy
organisations has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years' jail. (Green)

BRISBANE - Queenslanders may be able to cut their power bills under a proposal by the
competition watchdog. (Electricity Qld)



BRISBANE - Residents of a southeast Queensland island are outraged after having a request
for a police officer rejected. (Island)

ADELAIDE, Dec 2 AAP - AFL matches will be played at Adelaide Oval within three years
under a $450 million deal to upgrade the venue, increasing its capacity to 50,000.

HOBART - A man charged with supplying child prostitutes in Hobart has pleaded not guilty
to a series of serious sex crimes. (Devine)



AAP bwl

KEYWORD: HIGHLIGHTS NATIONAL 2 SYDNEY

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