Highlights of the AAP National wire at 15:30 = 2

AAP General News (Australia)
08-25-1999
Highlights of the AAP National wire at 15:30 = 2

CANBERRA - ACTU president Jennie George today downplayed her bid to gain a New South Wales
upper house seat after her retirement next year as Labor officials said there were no
vacancies for her. (GEORGE LEAD, see also GEORGE CARR, GEORGE N/L to come)



CANBERRA - Almost the entire Australian patrol boat fleet was affected by a satellite
navigation glitch akin to the millennium computer bug, the Defence Department said today.
(FREMANTLE)



CANBERRA - The federal government today ruled out any move to abolish its world parity
pricing policy for petrol to stem the latest rises in the cost of fuel. (PETROL HOWARD, see
also PETROL QLD)



CANBERRA - China's leading dissident and human rights activist today criticised Australia's
human rights dialogue with China as secretive and counterproductive. (CHINA RIGHTS, see also
CHINA PENG)



CANBERRA - Women were miscarrying because they were not provided with chairs at work, the
first national report on pregnancy discrimination has found. (PREGNANT N/L)



CANBERRA - A new nuclear reactor should be built at Sydney's Lucas Heights, a federal
parliamentary inquiry found today. (LUCAS)



SYDNEY - Greed is not good. Budding Gordon Gekkos be warned, people who are materialistic
may be more prone to depression according to a new study. (MATERIAL)



SYDNEY - An actor from the television series A Country Practice denied in court today that
he had sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl. (PIPER)



SYDNEY - New South Wales upper house president Meredith Burgmann today defended her
decision to cut the pomp and ceremony from the official opening of parliament next month.
(POMP, N/L to come)



SYDNEY - Western Suburbs rugby league player Adrian Rainey is challenging a drug test which
found he had taken anabolic steroids, claiming the urine sample was not his. (LEAGUE RAINEY,
N/L to come)



SYDNEY - New South Wales Premier Bob Carr today vowed his government would confront the
growing problem of "mega-clubs" that contain hundreds of poker machines. (GAMBLING NSW)



PERTH - Curtin University student Rahini Telang was taking an early-morning shower in her
Fremantle flat this morning when she suddenly noticed that the bathroom roof was missing.
(APARTMENT N/L to come)

PERTH - A destructive mini-cyclone ripped through East Fremantle today, trapping three
people in a partially collapsed building, tearing roofs off buildings and uprooting trees.
(APARTMENT SCENE)



PERTH - Police today said they would continue their search for two geology students from
Britain missing in Western Australia's north-west, because they were unsure of their ability
to survive in the rugged terrain. (GEOLOGISTS)



PERTH - Former North Melbourne player Jimmy Krakouer lost his appeal against a 16 year
sentence for drug trafficking here today. (KRAKOUER)



MELBOURNE - An Aboriginal elder's knowledge of a dreaming story about a snake creating the
Murray River was not enough to justify native title, the Federal Court heard today. (YORTA,
N/L to come)



MELBOURNE - CSIRO scientists are taking out patents on a technique for recycling rubber
from old tyres. (TYRES)



MELBOURNE - Convicted Russell Street bomber Craig Minogue today told a judge that prison
authorities were trying to thwart his legal battle over the right to a varied vegetarian diet.
(MINOGUE)



BRISBANE - The Queensland government and church groups will today sign a formal apology to
children who have suffered abuse in the state's institutions. (FORDE, see also FORDE APOLOGY,
FORDE N/L to come)



BRISBANE - Names and addresses of convicted child sex offenders considered a risk to the
community will be made public under legislation introduced to Queensland parliament today.
(MEGAN)



BRISBANE - Lawyers must be able to fully cross-examine child witnesses when necessary,
despite government moves to make courts more child-friendly, the Queensland Law Society said
today. (WITNESSES N/L)



BRISBANE - Australian adults get most of their disease-fighting antioxidants from tea, a
study shows. (TEA)



BRISBANE - Disaster sightseers not only get in the way, they put their own lives at risk, a
travel medicine expert said today. (TURKEY QUAKE TRAVEL)



GOLD COAST - A new meter maid venture on the Gold Coast has staked its claim on the city's
south in a bid to avoid the territorial battles which have marred the relationship between two
rivals based in Surfers Paradise. (METERMAIDS)



GOLD COAST - Dean Harrison is convinced the truth is out there - maybe lurking in bushland
near you. (YOWIE to come)



ADELAIDE - Subaru drivers like going to the cinema and the football, and tend to favour
Richmond in the AFL. (MOTOR RESEARCH, see also MOTOR SUBARU)



ADELAIDE - Normans Wines Ltd said it expects its sales turnover to increase by 10-15 per
cent in the next year. (NORMANS WINES to come)



LONDON - Australian marathon swimmer Tammy van Wisse insists she hasn't become a believer
in the Loch Ness Monster, but admits the waters of the famous lake present an eerie challenge.
(SWIM WISSE)



AAP mo

KEYWORD: HIGHLIGHTS NATIONAL 2 SYDNEY

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