What Australian papers say Thursday, April 19, 2001

AAP General News (Australia)
04-19-2001
What Australian papers say Thursday, April 19, 2001

SYDNEY, April 19 AAP - The time has come for both sides of politics to lay out their
plans for the national economy, The Age says in its editorial today.

"The Australian economy seems set for a decline in its fortunes," the editorial says.

"The superior stewardship of of economic was for a long time the Coalition's one unassailable
ace but its behaviour in recent weeks has damaged its primacy in this area.

"The May 22 Budget offers the government a real chance to restore some of its economic
credibility.

"Labor, meanwhile, is running down the clock on its chance to fully and properly lay
out its alternative economic vision.

"The budget will present the Opposition with a valuable opportunity to run its economic
policy - and in particular its "rollback" of the GST - before the Australian community."

The Sydney Morning Herald says the Labor Council can hardly complain at NSw Premier
Bob Carr's robust approach to reform of the costly state workers' compensation scheme.

"Such changes are required because a hugely disproportionate amount of the total cost
of the present scheme is spent on the process of determining compensation, not on compensation
itself."

The scheme's projected deficit this year is $2.18 billion.

In 1999-2000 injured workers received weekly payments totalling $438 million. In the
same period lawyers were paid $422 million.

The Daily Telegraph condemns the "sea of misinformation released over the Cec Hill
Hills High School massacre plot, saying it is time to say sorry and come clean.

"Both Premier Bob Carr and (Education Minister John) Aquilina have refused to apologise
over the origin of information concerning the gun" to which it was wrongly said the student
allegedly had access.

"The Premier owes not only the family, but the public an explanation. If it is not
forthcoming, Opposition demands for an ICAC inquiry are not as far fetched as they initially
seemed."

The Brisbane Courier-Mail says despite repeated assurances from successive state and
federal governments that they understand what must be done to honour the spirit of the
report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, indigenous deaths behind
bars continue.

If anything was to be acknowledged by the passage of a decade since the royal commission
report, it should be that the tragedy of deaths in custody has continued despite an enormous
amount of debate on reconciliation and self-determination.

"It ought to be time to find more practical solutions to the plight of indigenous inmates,
not to blame any one part of society for the problem," The Courier-Mail said.

The Herald Sun says the Victorian Government has taken a soft option on the dispute
between loggers and protesters in the Otways.

"It has declared a 24-hour moratorium after heated clashes between protesters and police
and Department of Natural Resources and Environment officers," the newspaper says.

"Thus, Environment Minister Sherryl Garbutt has barred loggers exercising their legal
right to do their job.

"As long as it is legal, the government must ensure work can go ahead free from illegal
interference."

The Adelaide Advertiser says immediate government intervention is needed within days
to resolve South Australia's power crisis.

"From July 1, in the name of competition and efficiency, electricity costs to business
will leap by 30 per cent for the lucky victims and up to 100 per cent for the really trapped.

"The generators and the distributors deny profiteering. Yet separately or together
they complacently contemplate these enormous price increases.

"This situation has arisen because it was ordained by governments. That which governments
can do, they can undo."

The Australian suggests the reign of Brian Kennedy at the National Gallery has failed to impress.

"It's a mark of Brian Kennedy's reign at the National Gallery that people are already
worried about his legacy - and he's not due to leave for another 16 months. Moreover,
many feel anxious at reports he will get an extension," it says.

"He promised to take the gallery forward, but at best it has marked time."

The Australian Financial Review says the pressure on the Federal Government to create
a climate more condusive to keeping large companies in Australia is quite clear.

The Australian Stock Exchange has pragmatically focussed on establishing a co-trading
link with Singapore that relies on dual recognition of listing rules and procedures, rather
than pursuing the grander vision of a merger.

The government has plenty to do making Australia's tax system more compatible with
global trading and harmonising accounting and company law.

The Canberra Times says Canberra's airport operators have done the right thing in publishing
maps of present and future airport noise zones.

The intention is to avoid the mistakes of Sydney's Kingsford Smith airport.

"Of course, as far as Sydney is concerned, the cynic might say that by far the greatest
proportion of those affected by Mascot flight paths are people who moved into the area
long after both the airport and the flight paths were established."

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KEYWORD: EDITORIALS

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