AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Evening, April 7

AAP General News (Australia)
04-07-2010
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Evening, April 7
EVENING ROUND-UP: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 1630


POLLTAS (HOBART)

Tasmania's caretaker premier DAVID BARTLETT has advised the state's governor to end
his commission as premier .. and offer Liberal leader WILL HODGMAN the opportunity to
take power.

The make-up of the next Tasmanian parliament will be 10 seats each for the Liberals
and Labor .. and five for the Greens after Labor lost its majority at the March 20 election.

Mr BARTLETT promised that in the event of a tie in the number of seats in a hung parliament
.. the party with the greatest overall vote should first be given the chance to form a
minority government.

It remains to be seen if Governor PETER UNDERWOOD accepts Mr BARTLETT'S suggestion
to commission Mr HODGMAN as premier .. without any sort of negotiated agreement between
him and the Greens.

Mr UNDERWOOD could also ask Mr BARTLETT to first test his own support on the floor
of the next parliament .. when it's recalled.



CARRIER CORAL (BRISBANE)

A marine expert says part of the Great Barrier Reef faces a damaging double whammy
.. from an oil leak and chemicals used to disperse it.

Associate Professor PETER HARRISON .. the director of Marine Studies at Southern Cross
University .. says coral spawning could be affected later this year.

Several tonnes of oil leaked from a coal carrier when it ran aground inside the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park on Saturday .. and chemicals were used to disperse the resulting
slick.

The warning comes as the Queensland government admits about 150 tonnes of oil could
wash up on the coast .. if the plan to offload oil goes wrong.



HOSPITALS WRAP (CANBERRA)

KEVIN RUDD and his parliamentary team have taken to regional Australia .. to spread
the word about which bush centres will get new or upgraded cancer treatment facilities.

The prime minister's in Townsville today .. and says this month's Council of Australian
Governments meeting is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform the nation's hospital
system.

He will skip US President BARACK OBAMA'S nuclear summit in Washington next week to
shore up support for his health and hospitals reform package .. ahead of the April 19
meeting.

Meanwhile .. the Greens say Mr RUDD'S health reform plan shouldn't be approved by the
states .. unless it addresses aged care services.



WEATHER QLD (BRISBANE)

The rain depression caused by Tropical Cyclone Paul has brought record floods to parts
of northwest Queensland bordering the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The cyclone crossed the Northern Territory coast on March 29 and became a rain depression
.. causing the highest floods on record for Burketown .. 50 kilometres from the gulf.

Emergency Management Queensland says the flood is slowly receding.



INDON BOAT (CANBERRA)

A refugee advocate says Indonesian Navy forces have moved in to remove asylum seekers
from a boat that's been sitting in Merak port for six months.

PAMELA CURR says the Indonesian Navy's arrived on a bus with a European individual
to forcefully remove the Tamil asylum seekers off the boat Jaya Lestari at Merak.

The boat was headed for Australia late last year when KEVIN RUDD intervened by phoning
Indonesian President SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO .. and asking him to stop it in Indonesian
waters.



BUSHFIRES NIXON (MELBOURNE)

CHRISTINE NIXON says she won't resign as head of Victoria's bushfire reconstruction
.. despite admitting she went out for dinner on the night of the fires which killed 173
people.

The state's police chief at the time .. Ms NIXON says she continued monitoring the
bushfires on February 7 last year .. now regrets not spending the evening at the emergency
co-ordination centre.

Victorian Opposition Leader TED BAILLIEU and others have called for Ms NIXON to resign
or be sacked from her job as head of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery
Authority.



LIVER (PERTH)

West Australian Premier COLIN BARNETT says the family of a woman .. who died after
a controversial liver transplant .. will still be expected to repay a 250-thousand dollar
loan to the government.

Mr BARNETT says the family of 24-year-old CLAIRE MURRAY is still expected to repay
the 250 thousand dollar loan in two years' time.

Ms MURRAY died in a Singapore hospital last week .. after doctors turned off her life-support
machine.



MORAN (MELBOURNE)

A friend of underworld figure DES "TUPPENCE" MORAN says he had wanted to change his
will .. weeks before he was gunned down at a Melbourne cafe.

SANDRA CUMMINS .. who knew Mr MORAN since she was a child .. says he wanted to remove
the four grandchildren of his murdered brother LEWIS from his will .. because he rarely
saw them.

Ms CUMMINS has told a pre-trial hearing for four people accused of his murder .. including
his sister-in-law JUDY MORAN .. that he instead wished to leave his estate to a few people
and the rest to charity.



DOMESTIC (CANBERRA)

A new survey shows Australia still has a long way to go to abolish violence against women.

One in four people think women falsify or exaggerate claims of rape and domestic violence
.. according to the federally-funded survey of more than ten thousand people.

And one in five think domestic violence is excusable .. if the attacker regrets what
they've done.



MONTGOMERY (SYDNEY)

A Sydney man .. who was born female .. is appealing to the Human Rights Commission
to have his documents changed .. saying New South Wales and federal laws discriminate
against him.

CONOR MONTGOMERY holds an Australian passport stipulating his gender as male.

But the New South Wales Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages refuses to alter his
birth certificate because he still has female genitalia.



BRIEFLY IN OTHER NEWS . . .


NUCLEAR US RUSSIA (PRAGUE)

The US and Russian presidents will meet in Prague tomorrow to sign a landmark nuclear
disarmament treaty .. a year after BARACK OBAMA called for a nuclear-free world in the
historic Czech capital.



IRAQ BLAST (BAGHDAD)

Six bombs have rocked Baghdad .. killing at least 35 people .. the second time the
Iraqi capital's come under attack in three days.



THAI UNREST (BANGKOK)

Anti-government protesters have surrounded Thailand's parliament .. causing the session
to be halted early after many lawmakers fled the building.



VEHICLE SALES FCAI (SYDNEY)

Australians are buying four-wheel-drives at near pre-financial crisis levels .. leading
a record 25 per cent jump in total vehicle sales in the year to March.



IN SPORT ..



CRICKET AUST (ADELAIDE)

Victorian batsman DAVID HUSSEY and NSW pacemen NATHAN BRACKEN and STUART CLARK have
lost their Cricket Australia contracts.

Victoria's BRAD HODGE and South Australian wicketkeeper GRAHAM MANOU have also been
removed from the 25-player contracted list for 2010-11, announced today.

The newcomers are quicks RYAN HARRIS and CLINT MCKAY, wicketkeeper-batsman TIM PAINE,
allrounder STEVEN SMITH and batsman ADAM VOGES.



AFL WRAP (MELBOURNE)

Geelong key forward CAMERON MOONEY and Hawthorn youngster LIAM SHIELS will both contest
charges tonight at the AFL Tribunal.

Meanwhile .. Western Bulldogs coach RODNEY EADE says captain BRAD JOHNSON is likely
to miss Sunday's AFL clash with Hawthorn as he continues to recover from a virus.

And .. West Coast coach JOHN WORSFOLD says he's unsure whether star AFL forward MARK
LeCRAS will be fit in time to tackle North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.



LEAGUE JUDICIARY (SYDNEY)

Warriors' Toyota Cup players JOHN PALAVI and SEBASTINE IKAHIHIFO have both been suspended
for six matches for their involvement in a nasty dangerous throw from Sunday's under 20s
match against Manly.



ENDS EVENING ROUND-UP


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