Qld: Residents may be spared total outdoor water ban

AAP General News (Australia)
08-03-2007
Qld: Residents may be spared total outdoor water ban

South-east Queensland residents may be spared a total ban on outdoor watering .. under
tough level six restrictions expected to come into force later this year.

However .. the state government has vowed to crack down on businesses using too much
water as the drought continues to bite.

Queensland Water Commission chairwoman ELIZABETH NOSWORTHY says the latest water consumption
figures have prompted a re-think on whether watering outdoors with buckets should be banned.

The proportion of the region's water used by residents has dropped from 70 to 66 per cent.

Ms NOSWORTHY says it's a tremendous water-saving effort by residents.

Current level five restrictions are set to be ramped up when the region's dams fall
to 15 per cent capacity .. forecast to occur in September or October this year.

AAP RTV jvb/pjo/sw/bart

KEYWORD: WATER QLD (BRISBANE)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Fire claims two prep classrooms at school

AAP General News (Australia)
02-10-2007
Vic: Fire claims two prep classrooms at school

Fire's destroyed part of a primary school in Victoria's east.

Fire crews were called to the Moe South Primary School about 4.30 am .. where the blaze
destroyed a canteen and two portable classrooms .. and two more classrooms were damaged
by smoke.

All four classrooms were for prep children.

An investigation into the cause will get underway today.

AAP RTV dr/rt

KEYWORD: SCHOOL (MELBOURNE)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Government must ensure high speed broadband:Beazley

AAP General News (Australia)
08-24-2006
Fed: Government must ensure high speed broadband:Beazley

KIM BEAZLEY says the federal government needs to stop dithering on the sale of Telstra
.. and make sure it secures a decent system of high speed broadband for Australians.

The Labor leader says the government should keep Telstra at the level of public ownership
it has now.

Mr BEAZLEY's told ABC radio a three billion dollar "slush fund" should be used to leverage
an agreement with service providers .. to get high speed broadband.

And he says if the remainder of Telstra shares are put in the Future Fund .. they'll
overhang the market for a decade .. while if they're floated now it'll crash the price
.. which is already quite low.

AAP RTV kaf/klw/tm/bart

KEYWORD: TELSTRA BEAZLEY (SYDNEY)

) 2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Doctors to meet over feared exodus interstate

AAP General News (Australia)
04-18-2006
Vic: Doctors to meet over feared exodus interstate

MELBOURNE, April 18 AAP - Victorian doctors will meet next month to discuss salaries,
amid warnings they will leave the state in droves unless the government matches other
states' pay and conditions.

Queensland and NSW doctors were paid 50 per cent more than their Victorian counterparts
as a result of government initiatives to attract doctors to work in their public hospitals,
the Australian Medical Association (AMA) Victoria said.

AMA Victoria president Mark Yates today said the Victorian government had admitted
it was already 900 doctors short, and an interstate exodus could leave the public hospital
system unviable.

"As the chasm of conditions and pay increases, because premiers (Peter) Beattie and
(Morris) Iemma value their doctors more, we're going to find it increasingly difficult
to maintain a good public hospital system in Victoria," he said.

Dr Yates said AMA Victoria had submitted a proposal to the state government five months
ago asking for a moderate five per cent pay increase, and a boost in conditions including
involvement in areas such as hospital management, research and teaching.

He said the AMA was very concerned about a future doctor shortage, but it was too early
to consider industrial action.

"We certainly have a meeting of doctors on the fourth of May, because this has been
five months so far," he said.

"But our concern at the moment is truly in the viability of the public hospital system."

Dr Yates said he knew of specialists working part time in the Victorian public system,
of which there were 2,000 working an average of three half-days a week, who were considering
a move to Queensland.

With better pay and conditions, they could be enticed to stay in Victoria and take
on more shifts, he said.

"To do that we have to have a public hospital system that is attractive to doctors,
(and) that will be attractive to doctors from other states so we can recruit them here,"

he said.

AAP jb/gfr/jas/nf

KEYWORD: DOCTORS DAYLEAD

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Police Minister awaiting explanation for file leak

AAP General News (Australia)
08-16-2005
Vic: Police Minister awaiting explanation for file leak

MELBOURNE, Aug 16 AAP - Victorian Police Minister Tim Holding is awaiting an explanation
from the state's top cop, Christine Nixon, over the latest leak of confidential police
files.

A prison officer-turned-whistleblower who applied to see his own file received up to
1,000 files on others with the same surname.

Police said preliminary inquiries indicated a worker at global computer maker IBM,
which was under contract to conduct audits of the police LEAP database, had emailed the
information to the man.

The data included the full name and addresses of some victims of crimes and alleged
offenders, the Herald Sun newspaper reported today.

The breach follows an apology earlier this month from the Office of Police Integrity
head state ombudsman George Brouwer after the OPI mistakenly released confidential police
files on hundreds of people to a single complainant.

In the same week, the personal details of an alleged murderer and his victims were
leaked to the Victorian opposition - printed on the back of other, unrelated documents.

The prison officer had applied for his file because he feared it had been improperly
accessed by police and corrections officials after he raised concerns about a 2000 police
operation to collect DNA from a notorious child killer.

A spokesman for Mr Holding today said the leak should not have happened and the minister
would like a full explanation from Ms Nixon.

"Victorians expect that information stored on LEAP to be secure and not improperly
dealt with," he said.

The police ethical standards department was investigating the circumstances surrounding
the leak, according to a statement from Victoria Police.

"Victoria Police treats any inappropriate release of information - mistaken or otherwise
- extremely seriously," the statement said.

AAP kw/gfr/it/bwl

KEYWORD: FILES 2ND DAYLEAD

2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

SA: New task force to investigate MP, police paedophile claims

AAP General News (Australia)
04-10-2005
SA: New task force to investigate MP, police paedophile claims

A special police task force has been set up to investigate allegations of paedophilia
against a South Australian MP, a former MP and two police officers.

SA Police Commissioner MAL HYDE says the separate allegations are currently under investigation
by different branches of the police force, but will all be brought together into one investigation.

Mr HYDE says in a statement the special task force takes the current, related investigations
out of the Anti-Corruption Branch and the Sexual Crimes Investigation Branch, so they
can all be dealt with in one area.

Assistant Commissioner BRYAN FAHY will lead the task force, with a team of one primary
investigator and five other officers working under him.

AAP RTV jlw/lb/jv

KEYWORD: MP TASKFORCE (ADELAIDE)

2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

touch screen

touch screen A system of screen trading in which the operator uses a finger or other pointer to touch the screen in order to activate the system instead of using a keyboard or other system of entry.