AAP Internet Bulletin 1200 Thursday, Dec 3, 1998

AAP General News (Australia)
12-03-1998
AAP Internet Bulletin 1200 Thursday, Dec 3, 1998

[A][BOMB WOMAN][FED]

Woman questioned by letter bomb police

CANBERRA - Police have questioned a woman about a letter bomb campaign targeting private
homes, including many people working with the tax office.

Australian Federal Police today confirmed the woman was questioned overnight but later
released.

The police spokeswoman did not know if the woman had voluntarily participated in the
interview or had been taken into police custody.

The spokeswoman would not confirm the interview took place in Canberra.

"All Ill say is a woman has helped police with their inquiries," she said.

Police issued a nationwide alert yesterday after 21 parcels bombs were found at the Canberra
mail exchange after one had exploded, causing minor injuries to two postal workers.

Another three bombs were delivered to homes in Sydney and Melbourne.

Most of those targeted were former or current Australian Taxation Office staff but bombs
were reportedly also sent to the Sydney home of federal privacy commissioner Moira Scollay and
the Melbourne home of former federal sex discrimination commissioner Sue Walpole.

Police are focusing their investigations on the whereabouts of a 43-year-old man believed to
be driving a blue 1985 Toyota Corona sedan with ACT registration YPV 276.

The bomber targeting tax office workers was likely to be a delusional man who believed he
was a victim of conspiracy, a forensic psychiatrist said.

Sydney forensic psychiatrist Julian Parmiegiani said there could be a revenge motive tied
to anger over a reported sexual harrassment case.

"The usual circumstances in which these actions are taken involve a person who believes he
is a victim of a conspiracy involving numerous people," Dr Parmiegiani told ABC Radio.

"And, therefore, most of those people imagined to be members of this conspiracy have got
really nothing to do with whatever happened to the individual.

"But then their retaliation becomes of a scattergun variety because every person is
involved in this delusional system is thought to be a threat.

"I think there was much more to it than just plain anger."

He said he was sure that if the person was asked why he targeted all these individuals, he
would explain the links and the reasons.

Asked if the man would be educated, he said: "Well, he would have to be to build the
explosive devices."

But then he said it would not be difficult to obtain that knowledge from the Internet or
from a number of revenge manuals available by mail-order.





[A][BUSHFIRE VIC][VIC]

Police confirm dead five trapped by wind change

BALLARAT - Three of the five firefighters killed in the Linton bushfire yesterday died in
their vehicle, the two others close by, police said today.

"My understanding is that some were in and two were shortly behind the vehicle," the
Disaster Plan (DISPLAN) coordinator, police inspector Vic Dunn, said from Linton today.

The firefighters died when trapped in the fire that burned out 780 hectares of bush and
threatened Linton near Ballarat.

Police had not released the names of the five, believed to be all men, early today.

But more details were expected to be announced by police and the Country Fire Authority at
media conferences today in Ballarat and at the Geelong West Fire Station.

More than 300 firefighters, 42 fire trucks and five aircraft had battled the fire, which
began just before 2pm in the Snake Gully pine plantation just north of Linton.

It came within a kilometre of the small farming community south-west of Ballarat, destroying
two houses and a utility and at its height burning along a two-kilometre front.

The fire burnt more than 150 hectares of state forest, a privately-owned forest and 500
hectares of bushland north of Linton, 150km west of Melbourne.

Insp Dunn told 3AW today concerns for the safety of the crew began when radio contact with
them was lost.

He said following the examination of the scene - a bulldozer track off Possum Gully Road -
by state coroner Graeme Johnstone overnight, arson squad experts were continuing the
investigation as to what caused the fire and how the tanker became trapped.

"As to whether or not it was naturally occurring or whether there may be suspicious
circumstances, but at this stage its too early to make a judgment," Insp Dunn said.

"At this stage we must keep an open mind; theres nothing we are aware of at this time."

He said there was speculation that a sudden wind change contributed to the tragedy.

"There was a change in the weather that we had been monitoring very closely with the CFA,
but the full circumstances surrounding the deaths has to be established," Insp Dunn said.

Coroner Johnstone ordered that from 3am today until further notice a five kilometre
exclusion zone was operative around the death scene in relation to all unauthorised vehicles,
helicopters and other aircraft.

Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett today expressed his condolences over the deaths.

"It is not just five individuals who have paid the ultimate sacrifice protecting property
but it's their families as well," he said.

"It is just a real tragedy.

"Regardless of how it happened it doesnt change the outcome, and the outcome is weve lost
five lives and weve put five families into a traumatic environment and we can only extend our
sympathies to them, we cant bring them back."

Mr Kennett said all Victorians would be shocked at the deaths and he extended his sympathy
to the families of the volunteers.

"After such a wave of unnecessary deaths on our roads, I think everyone will feel very down
about the just enormous wastage," he told radio 3AW.





[A][TAX KENNETT][FED]

Kennett concern over GST legislation

MELBOURNE - Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett today raised his concern that the GST rate was
not fixed in tax legislation before federal parliament and said he would write to Prime
Minister John Howard.

Legislation locking in the rate of the goods and services tax, as demanded by the states
and territories, was not included in the 16 pieces of tax legislation introduced in parliament
yesterday, he said.

"Now I would want to be sure that that legislation was through the parliament at the same
time as the rest of it, and was not going to follow next year or the year after, to preserve
the integrity of the system both in terms of the rate and the base," he told radio 3AW.

If this did not happen, the legislation would not provide the security the states were
looking for, he said.

Mr Kennett said he would write to Mr Howard about his concern.

The tax reform package introduced yesterday included new concessions to help charities, and
GST exemptions for education services and medical aids such as prescription glasses and
hearing aids.





[T][LEAGUE CHARGERS][RL]

Chargers close down

BRISBANE - The Gold Coast rugby league club has folded.

Brisbanes Eastern Suburbs Rugby League Club chairman Des Morris says hes been advisedof
the closure before an official announcement from the club at 10am AEST (11am AEDT).

Easts had planned to invest in the Gold Coast to keep a second southeast Queensland team in
the National Rugby League but the Chargers board met last night and decided to shut the club
down.

Morris describes the decision as bitterly disappointing and says Queenslanders have every
right to question the direction of the game and what it holds for them in the future.

The Chargers demise leaves only 17 teams in next years NRL premiership.

Morris described the decision as bitterly disappointing.

He said Queenslanders had every right to question the direction of the game and what it held
for them in the future.

"Brisbane Easts, combined with support from many sectors of both the Brisbane and Gold Coast
community, provided the perfect opportunity for the Chargers to survive and prosper," Morris
said.

"The finances were in place, sponsors were waiting in the wings and players were available.

"Instead, the drive to reduce team numbers while retaining the dominance of at least eight
of the current Sydney-based teams in the national competition has prevailed - ahead of the best
interests of the game of rugby league."

The Chargers demise follows the closure of Adelaide earlier this week and leaves only 17
teams in next years NRL premiership.

Morris said continued power plays by certain sectors of rugby league officialdom would erode
the game, potentially irreparably.





[T][GOLF OPEN][GOLF]

Norman scorches as weather cools in Australian Open

ADELAIDE - Tournament favourite Greg Norman experienced the highs and lows of championship
golf in his first nine holes at the Australian Open at Royal Adelaide today.

In his first tournament in Australia since an eight-month layoff Norman following shoulder
surgery was cruising at three-under par approaching the turn.

The former world No.1 had birdied the par-five second hole and then made successive birdies
at the par three seventh and the par four eighth.

But a disastrous double bogey at the par-five ninth knocked him from the top of the
leaderboard.

On a course that has come in for considerable criticism over changes made to its already
tough layout, players were today enjoying ideal weather conditions.

The stifling heat and high winds of earlier in the week had given way to temperatures in the
low 20s and almost no wind.

With Norman's slip-up, New Zealander Steve Alker was left on top of the leaderboard at three
under along with Canadian Rick Gibson and New South Welshman Kenny Druce.

Norman, a five-time winner of this championship had claimed earlier in the week that the
eight months he had away from the game while he recovered from shoulder surgery had been a
blessing in disguise.

Today, with the weather turning the Royal Adelaide "monster" into something more benign,
Norman indicated his claims were close to the mark.

Also in early contention in the $1 million championship was Victorian Stuart Appleby at two
under after six holes and Queensland's Peter Senior who was also two under after five.





[I][US-Gates-Immunization]

Bill Gates donating dlrs $US100 million for child immunisation

NEW YORK - With his work as Microsoft Corp. chairman under a microscope in Washington, Bill
Gates came to New York on Wednesday to promote his philanthropy.

The billionaire computer mogul announced that he and his wife, Melinda, are giving $US100
million ($A160 million) to immunisation programs for children in developing countries.

"Our program has a simple goal to make vaccines you and I take for granted available to
children regardless of where they live," Gates said at a news conference.

The program will be administered by the Seattle-based Program for Appropriate Technology in
Health through groups that include the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

Most children worldwide have access to vaccines against tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria,
tetanus, pertussis and measles.

The Gates money will be used to set up programs to immunise children with relatively new
vaccines for hepatitis B, which causes liver disease; homophilus influenza B, a cause of
childhood meningitis; streptococcus pneumonia, which causes ear infections and deadly
respiratory illness; and rotavirus, which causes life-threatening diarrhea.

Immunizing children worldwide against the diseases will reduce childhood deaths by a third
and liver cancer deaths by 75 percent, officials said.

Gates and his wife became interested in world health after visiting developing countries
three or four years ago.

Asked about the timing of the donation in light of the ongoing anti-trust trial against
Microsoft, Gates said: "Although Microsoft has provided the wealth to do this, I don't see this
as being related in any way."





[A][OLY GST KNIGHT][OLY]

GST deal could save SOCOG $200 million: Knight

SYDNEY - The federal governments proposal to negate the impact of a GST on the Sydney
Olympics would save SOCOG up to $200 million, Olympics Minister Michael Knight said today.

Mr Knight, who is also the SOCOG president, welcomed the plan outlined by Prime Minister
John Howard in a letter to Premier Bob Carr, although SOCOG would have preferred an exemption
from GST.

Under the proposed legislation, most of SOCOGs contracts involving ticket sales,
sponsorships and TV rights would be classified as exports and therefore free from GST.

The legislation would also apply to the Sydney Paralympic Games.

"While its not our preferred mechanism, it does look like it will solve the problem for
us," Mr Knight told AAP.

"Our preferred mechanism was just to carry over our existing exemption from wholesale sales
tax and income tax and roll that over to a exemption from the GST if it is pased by the
Senate.

"But the federal government wants to deal with it in a different way and from the
indications in the prime ministers letter and the tone of the letter it will leave us in a no
worse position, although itll be done in a fairly complicated way."

"I think the reason theyve chosen to do that is ... they want to protect the integrity of
their legislation and they dont want to create a whole range of precedents involving the
Games."

Mr Howard has linked the tax proposal to the signing of a memorandum of understanding with
SOCOG covering $32 million of commonwealth funding for the Games.

AS part of the MOU, the federal government also wants several thousand Olympic tickets to
distribute to VIPs.





[I][US JONES][US]

Appeals court dismisses Paula Jones case

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas - Paula Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit against United States
President Bill Clinton officially ended today when an appeals court dismissed it, citing the
$US850,000 ($A1,350,000) settlement the parties reached last month.

The 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals put what is likely to be the final stamp on the lawsuit,
through which the US Supreme Court decided that a sitting president can stand trial for
non-official actions and Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr prepared an impeachment referral
against Clinton.

In its order, the three-judge panel made no reference to the merits of Jones' appeal, which
was argued on October 19.

"The joint motion to dismiss the appeal is granted subject to the terms of the out-of-court
settlement which the parties attached to and incorporated by reference in their joint motion to
voluntarily dismiss the appeal," said the panel, based in St Louis.

An Arkansas federal judge dismissed Jones' lawsuit on April 1, saying the former state
worker could not prove key elements of sexual harassment.

Jones claimed that Clinton, then Arkansas' governor, exposed himself to her in a Little Rock
hotel room in 1991. Clinton denied the allegation.

The judge said the alleged boorish behaviour, even if true, did not contribute to a hostile
work environment.

Clinton last month agreed to pay Jones $US850,000 ($A1,350,000). Even though Jones had long
wanted Clinton to acknowledge wrongdoing, the settlement said the agreement was not an
acknowledgment of wrongdoing.





[F][RATES][][]

Next interest rate move to be up - BIS

SYDNEY - The next substantial interest rate movement in Australia would be upward, with most
of the negative impact of the Asian crisis already felt, according to economic forecasters BIS
Shrapnel.

The firm said it was unlikely another wave of the crisis would hit Australian exports in
1999.

It branded yesterdays 25 basis point rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia as "welcome,
but not significant since interest rates were sufficiently low to drive growth".

"The next interest rate movement of any substance will be upward," BIS said in a statement.

The firms latest Economic Outlook predicts GDP growth of 3.6 per cent in the current
financial year, rising to 4.0 per cent in 1999/2000, with unemployment falling below 7.0 per
cent in that year.





[A][TAX COSTELLO][FED]

Australia needs good tax policy to reap rewards: Costello

CANBERRA - Australia needed to put in place good tax policy now so it could keep reaping the
rewards over coming years, just as it was now getting the benefits of policies put in place two
years ago, federal Treasurer Peter Costello said today.

Yesterday, the Reserve Bank cut official cash rates by a quarter of a percentage point to
4.75 per cent and the annual economic growth rate came in at five per cent for the year to
September, signalling the economy had withstood the first year of the Asian economic downturn.

"Home buyers now have the lowest home mortgages since the 1960s and the Australian economy
(is) growing and performing and creating new jobs for young people as a result of policies put
in place two and three years ago," Mr Costello told reporters.

"Thats why its important that we put in policies now so that we can reap the rewards of
good policy in three and four and five years time."

"Thats what tax reform is all about: giving lower income tax to help families, encourage
people to save and ensuring we have a strong taxation base to keep social services going."

Mr Costello said the opposition would not help improve the tax system by being negative.

"The Labor Party has put forward nothing in the area of tax. All they do is oppose. They are
hidebound by negativity, they are trapped in oppositionism and for the sake of the country they
should be supporting the government in these path-breaking reforms, the big reforms, that are
going to set Australia up in the decades to come," he said.

Mr Costello said the more exemptions that were made the more complex the tax system became
so the government had kept them down as much as possible.

The tax reform package introduced yesterday included new concessions to help charities and
GST exemptions for education services and medical aids such as prescription glasses and hearing
aids.

"If any more exemptions were put in it would just complicate the whole thing. Its one of
the reasons why the government has said all goods including food should be in," Mr Costello
said.

"The more exemptions you have in your indirect tax base the more complicated it becomes, the
more costly it becomes to enforce, and thats why the governments kept them to a minimum.

"Thats why we say that ideas for further exemption are bad ideas. We ought to keep the
design of the tax package clear and simple and straightforward."





[A][BOATING][NSW]

Man who survived 23 hrs at sea says he cant swim well

SYDNEY - Leading horse trainer Glenn Frost, who survived 23 hours at sea after his boat
capsized off Jervis Bay, said today he could not swim the length of a swimming pool.

Mr Frost, 33, said a promise he had made to his children to return home from the fishing
expedition, 26km offshore with his mate Geoff Howarth, had kept him alive.

Mr Howarth, 36, drowned in the accident.

"Im not a real good swimmer," Mr Frost told ABC Radio.

"I cant swim the length of a pool.

"If I had to do 100 metres free-stroke I think I would pull up about the 60-metre mark and
start dog-paddling."

The pair was celebrating Mr Howarths birthday with a fishing trip when a big wave swamped
Mr Frosts 5.1-metre runabout at 3pm (AEDT) on Monday.

They clung to the upturned hull watching circling sharks before the boat began to sink.

Using an Esky, the pair began to move towards colder currents where they knew sharks were
less likely to be.

Mr Frost said a barge had passed within 100 metres of them during the night but failed to
see them.





[S][CRICKET ENGLAND URN][CRIK]

Ashes to remain strictly in England

LONDON - Australia might be leading the current Ashes series but England's cricketing
authorities are determined that the colonials will never get their hands on the urn that holds
the incinerated prize.

The Marylebone Cricket Club has decided to keep the tiny terracotta jar in its traditional
cabinet at Lords and today announced the creation of a permanent glass trophy as a
substitute.

There were calls for the Ashes to travel Down Under after Australia's winning 1997 series
but the MCC refused appeals from wicket-keeper Ian Healy, formal requests from the Australian
Cricket Board and even turned down pleas from English cricket writers, who suggested their
departure might encourage the national team to try and win them back.

MCC secretary Roger Knight maintained that the symbolic trophy was the club's private
property and was anyway too fragile to be moved.

An MCC spokesman said today the new trophy was designed to stop Australia's claims once and
for all.

"It's the MCC's property and not actually Australia's or England's as such so that's how the
MCC came by this idea," spokesman Stuart Weatherhead said.

Made from hand crafted crystal by Ireland's Waterford Glass, the new trophy will be unveiled
at Lord's next Wednesday by former England cricket captains Colin Cowdrey, Ted Dexter and Mike
Denness.

It will then be flown to Australia to be presented to the winner of the current series.

England and Australia have contested the Ashes since 1882 when the miniature terracotta urn
was created as a joke to mark an English victory.

According to cricket bible Wisden it was presented to English captain Ivo Bligh by a group
of Melbourne society ladies and contains the ashes of a burnt bail.





[T][CRICKET HAIR][CRIK]

CRIK: ACB makes decision on umpire Hair

The umpiring fate of Darell Hair is expected to be known this afternoon when the Australian
Cricket Board holds a press conference in Melbourne.

Sri Lankan cricket authorities have asked for Hair to be charged under the International
Cricket Council's code of conduct for comments about offspinner Muttiah Muralidhahran in the
umpire's recently released book.

The Sri Lankans also don't want Hair to officiate in any of their one-day matches in
Australia this summer after he wrote he'd call Muralidharan for throwing again if he deemed the
spinner's action illegal.

Hair triggered an international furore when he no-balled Muralidharan for throwing in the
1995 Boxing Day Test at the MCG.





[F][ANZ][][]

ANZ confirms staff note dismissing takeover talks

MELBOURNE - ANZ Banking Group Ltd sent a memorandum to staff last week dismissing rumours
that the bank was in takeover talks, a spokesman confirmed today.

Chief executive John McFarlane sent the short note to staff around Australia last Friday to
reassure them that the bank was not in merger negotiations with other banks.

Market rumours and press speculation in the past few weeks has centred on a potential
takeover of ANZ by the National Australia Bank.

This led the Federal government to state again its commitment to maintaining the four
pillars policy which prohibits the four biggest Australian banks from merging with each other.





[A][HOME][VIC]

Man remains critical after brawl with police

MELBOURNE - A psychiatric patient seriously injured in a fight with police at an
institutional home in Melbourne yesterday remained in a critical condition today.

The resident of The Avenue special accommodation home in inner-eastern Melbourne remained in
a life-threatening condition, a spokeswoman for the Alfred Hospital confirmed.

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Ambulance Service said the man sustained head injuries
during the brawl, suffered a cardiac arrest, was not breathing and had no pulse when officers
arrived.

Police have announced an investigation into the incident, which occurred after four officers
responded to a call from The Avenue management who were involved in a dispute with the man.

"The altercation was at the premises with the people that manage the facility. We were
called to try and assist and we became involved," Inspector John Manley said.

"Therell be a thorough investigation supervised by the ethical standards department and
monitored by the Ombudsman."

Inspector Manley refused to give details of the incident to reporters and declined to
comment on an allegation made by one of the homes residents that police kicked the man.





[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 MICROSOFT][US]

Microsoft's Gates says Java posed possible threat

WASHINGTON - Microsoft's top executive, Bill Gates, acknowledged in videotaped testimony
shown today that he believed a rival computer language, called Java, could threaten his
lucrative Windows franchise.

But rejecting one of the government's most important claims in its antitrust case, Gates
denied that his company ever tried to discourage software developers from tailoring their
products to use Java rather than Windows.

"Our concern is always to get people to develop Windows applications," Gates said. "If we
looked at how (Java) might be evolved in the future, we did think of it as something that
competed with us for the attention of (software developers) in terms of whether or not they
would take advantage of the advanced features of Windows."

Software programs written using Java, a language developed by Sun Microsystems Inc, can run
on a variety of computers, usually with only minor changes, not just on computers using
Microsoft's dominant Windows operating system.

The government alleges that Microsoft, sensing the threat from Java, encouraged programmers
to use essentially a Windows-only version of Java, called J-Direct.

"We are just proactively trying to put obstacles in Sun's path and get anyone that wants to
write in Java to use J-Direct and target Windows directly," Microsoft executive Tod Nielsen
wrote in an August 1997 e-mail to Gates that was made public yesterday.

Another employee, Ben Slivka, wrote to Gates in May 1997 that Sun was close to releasing a
new version of Java, "which we're going to be pissing on at every opportunity".

After a lengthy exchange with Justice Department lawyer David Boies, Gates said of that
e-mail: "He might mean that we're going to be clear that we're not involved with it, that we
think there's a better approach."

Boies asked: "Would it be fair for me to assume that 'pissing on' is not some code word that
means saying nice things about you, that has the usual meaning that it would in the
vernacular?"

Gates answered: "Believe me, it's not a term that's commonly used. ... In this case I think
it means what you've suggested."

KEYWORD: NETNEWS 1200

1998 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.