PRESS DIGEST-Australian General News - Sept 3

Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)

Resource royalties are projected to add an extra A$3.4 billion to state budgets over the next two years, on the back of soaring commodity prices. Prices of the key steelmaking commodities remain significantly higher than those assumed in state budgets handed down early this year. Western Australia will reap the most royalties, expected to net an extra A$1.9 billion over two years relative to budget forecasts. Page 1.

--

Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie yesterday sided with the Labor Party, putting Prime Minister Julia Gillard within reach of the 76 votes needed to form a minority government. Labor currently holds 74 votes, with the rural independents Bob Katter, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott yet to decide their positions. The Coalition now requires all three men to form government. Page 1.

--

Australian employers may have to turn to older employees in order to meet widespread skills shortages across key industry sectors, experts say. A recent survey by recruiters Hudson showed 57 percent of businesses were having trouble finding skilled workers. The number of people aged 65 and over is projected to almost double in the next 40 years, giving employers a rich pool of mature workers to draw from. Page 1.

--

Key race clubs in Victoria report that corporate hospitality for the upcoming spring racing carnival will be well up on last year. The global financial crisis stifled celebrations in the past two years, but organisers of this year's four-day Melbourne Cup carnival say corporate venues are already booked out. "Certainly the strength of the Cup around the 150th anniversary is a big, big plus this year," said Victoria Racing Club chief executive Dale Monteith. Page 3.

--

THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)

Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday sought to win over the three remaining independent MPs by attacking Opposition Leader Tony Abbott as dishonest and unfit for office. Labor seized on a Treasury analysis which found that Mr Abbott's election promises would cost as much as A$11 billion more than he disclosed during the election campaign. Mr Abbott said the costings discrepancy was due to "differences of opinion" about accounting assumptions. Page 1.

--

Increased school attendance in remote Queensland indigenous communities can be linked to alcohol restrictions, experts say. Five years after alcohol restrictions were imposed on the state's 19 communities, police report that assaults and domestic violence have decreased markedly, and more children are going to school across north Queensland. In the largest community of Aurukun, school attendances increased 10 percent last year and almost as much again this year. Page 1.

--

The New South Wales lower house of parliament yesterday voted in favour of a bill that would allow same-sex couples to adopt children. Forty-six MPs voted for the historic bill and 44 voted against it, after a two-day debate and a conscience vote. The bill, introduced by Sydney MP Clover Moore, gives church adoption agencies the right to refuse services to same-sex couples without breaching anti-discrimination laws. Page 2.

--

Policies which direct funds towards schools in poorer areas as a way of improving student results are ineffective, a study suggests. Gary Marks, from the Australian Council for Education Research, who conducted the study, says "policy focus should be on individual students in need of assistance rather than the schools they attend." Page 2.

--

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie yesterday rejected the Coalition's offer to spend A$1 billion upgrading Royal Hobart Hospital, saying Ms Gillard's smaller offer was more resourceful. Ms Gillard promised only to bring forward the next A$1.8 billion in grants from the Health and Hospitals Fund, saying Mr Abbott's promise was fiscally irresponsible. "I think this is an example of seeking a more modest amount and being more conscious of proper process," Mr Wilkie said. Page 1.

--

One of Sydney's most powerful property barons arranged more than A$6000 worth of business-class airline upgrades for a New South Wales Labor minister last year, it has been revealed. Fair Trading Minister Virginia Judge received the upgrades from Charif Kazal on a trip to the Middle East last year. At the time, the Kazals were negotiating over a multi-million-dollar taxpayer-owned property at The Rocks. Page 1.

--

The leader of the Christian Democratic Party was yesterday forced to deny accessing pornographic websites, after a public audit revealed his parliamentary office had accessed adult sites 200,000 times in six months. Reverend Frank Nile said he had asked members of his staff to conduct research on the porn industry, in preparation for debates with the Australian Sex Party. Page 4.

--

A Sydney mother and daughter who claim to have been subjected to a two-week ordeal at the hands of a Facebook stalker say they have been unable to get the social networking company to intervene. The mother said she, her 12-year old daughter and her daughter's friends had been stalked, harassed and sent pornographic images. "We tried reporting the account to Facebook, but they don't want to contact us. They don't want to know about it, basically," the mother said. Page 3.

--

THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)

The Drug and Crime Prevention Committee yesterday tabled a report on alcohol laws in the Victorian Parliament. The report included recommendations that the Government consider regulating alcohol advertising and that the government push for volume-based alcohol taxation. The committee also called for the introduction of "secondary supply laws," restricting the supply of alcohol to minors in private premises. Page 1.

--

Qantas Airways (QAN.AX) yesterday said it would wait for guidance from air safety investigators before taking action on safety issues arising from the midair explosion of a Rolls Royce engine on Tuesday. The engine was on one of the airline's Boeing 747s, and appears to have failed due to a broken turbine blade. The engine failed shortly after taking off from San Francisco. Australian air investigators have flown to the United States to meet with local air safety officials. Page 2.

--

A prominent sex therapist yesterday condemned the state of public funding for men's health relative to womens health causes. Prostate cancer, diabetes, depression and erectile dysfunction plagued the men of Australia, said sexologist Bettina Arndt. Funding for awareness about male conditions fell far short of the publicly funded breast prostheses for women cancer patients, she said. Page 3.

--

Australia is set to open an embassy in Ethiopia and appoint an ambassador in the coming months. In a move widely seen as an attempt to bolster the campaign to win a prized seat on the United Nations Security Council, the new diplomatic post will be located in Addis Ababa, also the headquarters for the African Union. Winning support from the African bloc will be crucial for Australia's hopes of winning a Security Council seat in a 2012 vote at the UN. Page 3.

--