AAP Radio and Television Breakfast Round Up, Aug 30

AAP General News (Australia)
08-30-1999
AAP Radio and Television Breakfast Round Up, Aug 30
BREAKFAST ROUND-UP: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 0430.

TIMOR (DILI)

East Timor's autonomy vote has been dashed with two more
politically charged murders, as local leaders call for
courage.

The Nobel prize-winning head of the Roman Catholic church
in East Timor has urged people to defy intimidation and vote
on their future.

And President BJ HABIBIE has called for them to stay united
with Indonesia.

But just hours after rival factions, witnessed by UN and
Indonesian officials, sealed a disarmament pact to curb the
violence, two pro-Indonesian militiamen were killed in a
pro-independence bastion of the capital Dili.

The incident prompted pro-Indonesian Aitarak militia leader
EURICO GUTERRES to conduct an armed protest at the offices of
the Commission on Peace and Stability, in apparent defiance of
the freshly inked deal.

Earlier, aid agency Oxfam International said pro-Indonesian
militias had drawn up a death list yesterday.

Oxfam senior delegate to East Timor JEREMY HOBBS said East
Timorese living outside the capital, Dili, had been warned by
the militias to expect to die after today's vote.

Women have also been threatened with being raped as
Indonesian-backed militiamen attempt to intimidate the
populace to vote in favour of political affiliation with
Jakarta.



TIMOR AUST (CANBERRA)

East Timorese Australians will vote today in their
homeland's historic autonomy ballot -- free from the threat of
violence that hangs over most of those taking part in the
vote.

That violence yesterday prompted Prime Minister JOHN HOWARD
to telephone Indonesia's President HABIBIE and warn him
Australian troops were on standby if Australians observing the
ballot came under threat.

But Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesman LAURIE BRERETON
urged Mr HOWARD to go further and fly to Jakarta to lobby
President HABIBIE to accept a UN peacekeeping force on East
Timor, if today's vote is for independence.



WIK (CANBERRA)

The Howard government's Wik native title legislation looks
set to come under fire in the Senate over the next 48 hours.

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

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

To overturn the scheme, Labor will need the support of the
Australian Democrats and Greens -- both of whom strongly
opposed the Wik bill and are therefore expected to back the
ALP.

But Democrats native title spokesman JOHN WOODLEY has refused to commit himself ahead of
Tuesday's Senate vote.

Mr WOODLEY says the party will discuss the complex issue today and will reveal their
position tomorrow.



ECONOMY BUSINESS (CANBERRA)

A survey has found business confidence has risen to rise to pre-Asian crisis levels but the
outlook for exports remains gloomy.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has also highlighted an imminent danger if
the Reserve Bank of Australia parallels the United States interest rate rise.

The Chamber says the results of its September quarter survey show confidence has returned
to levels last seen prior to the Asian crisis.

Business optimism for the economy has improved, with nearly 40 per cent of those surveyed
expecting the economy to perform stronger compared with just over 26 per cent in the previous
quarter.

But 42.8 per cent expect conditions to be the same while 14.3 per cent think they'll
weaken.



SUICIDES (SYDNEY)

It's been reported that almost half of the 367 people who've killed themselves in
Australia's jails in the past 19 years had not even been convicted.

The Sydney Morning Herald, quoting an Australian Institute of Criminology report to be
released today, says 48 per cent of inmates who committed suicide were on remand, waiting for
the court system to deliver a verdict.

In some cases, prisoners had not even faced trial when they took their own lives.

The report says prison suicide rates have tripled in the time prison populations have
doubled, far outstripping the community suicide rate.

In the report, researcher VICKI DALTON says there was a 240 per cent increase in prison
suicides between 1980 and 1998.



REPUBLIC (CANBERRA)

Former Prime Minister MALCOLM FRASER says Australia's greatest political crisis, the
dismissal of the WHITLAM government, may never have happened if Australia had been a republic
in 1975.

Mr FRASER, a staunch supporter of the republic model to be put to the November referendum,
has also hit out at senior Liberal minister PETER REITH.

He says Mr REITH is getting desperate claiming the flag is under threat from a republic.



BRIEFLY IN OTHER NEWS ....

Anti-smoking group ASH says written health warnings on cigarette packets are becoming
ineffective and should be replaced with gruesome photos of cancerous tissues.



A severe rainstorm described as a mini-tornado has ripped roofs from homes, toppled trees
and downed powerlines as it gouged a path through Sydney's western suburbs.



A third girl from Padua College in Melbourne's south-east has been hospitalised with
meningococcal disease.



The Macedonian government has protested to the NATO-led peacekeeping force on its territory
over the death of a government minister in a collision with a peacekeeping force vehicle.



Ethnic Hutu rebels have attacked Burundi's capital with at least 41 people killed in
fighting before the rebels pulled back.



Officials say at least five people are dead and 177 injured after a freak storm hit South
Africa's legislative capital Cape Town, destroying buildings and leaving thousands homeless.

AND IN SPORTS NEWS ....

SWIM PANPACS (SYDNEY)

The Australian swimming team at the Pan Pacific championships had its most successful meet
since the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

Australia tied with the US for the most amount of gold medals with 13 each -- the Americans
had more overall.

GRANT HACKETT stole the show yesterday afternoon with a personal best time of 14 minutes,
45.60 seconds for the 1500m despite suffering from the flu, while SARAH RYAN also swam a PB in
the 50m freestyle to come second to American JENNY THOMPSON who won her fifth gold medal of
the meet.

But the championships ended on a sour note for Australia's men's 4x100m medley relay team
who were disqualified.

All up, twelve world records were set in the Sydney International Aquatic Centre pool over
the eight day championships, starting with IAN THORPE's demolition of the 400m freestyle
record on the opening night.

LEAGUE FUNDING (SYDNEY)

The future size of the National Rugby League competition and control of representative
football could become embroiled in a $15 million funding row that's further jeopardised the
survival hopes of some clubs.

A series of meetings will be held this week in a bid to resolve an amazing administrative
blunder that could impact heavily on clubs loyal to the Australian Rugby League during the
Super League war.

THIS ENDS BREAKFAST ROUNDUP

RTV rat

KEYWORD: BREAKFAST ROUND-UP

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