Fed: Aust vindicated by court on holding fishing boat - govt

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Fed: Aust vindicated by court on holding fishing boat - govt

Fisheries Minister IAN MACDONALD says Australia has been vindicated by an internationalcourt decision for holding a Russian boat allegedly caught fishing illegally.

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has found by 19 votes to two thatRussia's concern about whether Australia had complied with rules of the sea in holdingthe Volga and its crew, was well-founded.

But the tribunal has also deemed it reasonable for Australia to demand a security of$1.9 million for the release of the boat pending an Australian court case.

The Volga was one of two Russian fishing boats allegedly involved in catching protectedPatagonian toothfish near Herde Island in the Southern Ocean in February.

After Australia imposed a $3.3 million bond on the Volga, Russia appealed to the internationaltribunal to set a bond of no more than $500,000 for the ship and crew.

Mr MACDONALD has told ABC radio the government's pleased the tribunal has agreed withAustralia's decision to release the boat to its owners on a bond for the boat's full value.

But he says it's disappointed the Russian government entered into the action.

The case comes before the courts in February next year.

The Volga's crew of three left Australia last week.

AAP RTV dep/rcg/jmt

KEYWORD: VOLGA (CANBERRA)

NT: 200kg geece found in Central Australia

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NT: 200kg geece found in Central Australia

The remains of 200 kilogram geese that once waddled through central Australia havebeen unearthed in a rare archaeological find.

The giant flightless bird fossils, found only in Australia, have never before beendiscovered in such concentrations.

Northern Territory Museum paleontologist PETER MURRAY says his team has found a gaggleof about 10 birds in the Al Coota area, north-east of Alice Springs, in the past threeweeks.

He says they would have weighed 150-200kg each.

Their larger cousins, known as Dromornis Stirtoni, which weighed about 500kg, havebeen dug up around Australia for the past century.

But this find of two species of smaller giants - the tall, slender so-called IlbandornisLawsoni and the stockier Ilbandornis Woodburnei - is rare.

Dr MURRAY says anatomically they are virtually identical to geese.

He says it is not clear whether the birds died together or were washed together inthe sediment of a long-gone river.

AAP RTV rmg/wz/rp/psm/

KEYWORD: GEESE (DARWIN)

Fed: Defence to take priority in next months' Budget

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Fed: Defence to take priority in next months' Budget

Budget cuts may be on the cards in all areas, apart from defence and border protection-- which Treasurer PETER COSTELLO says are top priorities.

The May 14th Budget is already under pressure from coalition election promises andministers have been warned any new initiatives are unlikely to get the green light.

Mr COSTELLO says Australia's commitment to the war against terrorism, East Timor andcontinuing investment mean the government will have to be very tight in other areas.

The government is believed to have spent $320 million this year on the deployment oftroops in Afghanistan, with an extra $19 million covering the cost of intercepting asylumseekers.

Labor has warned resources are so overstretched that Australia cannot afford to jointhe United States and Britain in any military action against Iraq.

AAP RTV kmh/jtb/gel

KEYWORD: TERROR (CANBERRA)

SA: Kerin may announce election date today

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SA: Kerin may announce election date today

South Australians may be heading to the polls next month, with Premier ROB KERIN expectedto announce the date of the state election today.

Mr KERIN has nominated two options -- February the 9th or early April.

He must announce the February date today if he's to meet the required …

Fed: Australia has not heard of reported Indonesian decision

AAP General News (Australia)
08-28-2001
Fed: Australia has not heard of reported Indonesian decision

CANBERRA, Aug 28 AAP - Australia has heard nothing from Indonesia about its reported
decision to accept hundreds of stranded asylum seekers, a government spokesman said today.

The spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said Mr Downer met with
the Indonesian ambassador this morning and negotiations were continuing.

"At this stage we haven't had any notification of a decision from Indonesia that they
are going to accept the vessel," the spokesman told AAP.

MORE jb/daw/was/sb

KEYWORD: BOAT INDON DOWNER

2001 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Qld: Last ditch bid to abort trial of backpackers fire accused

AAP General News (Australia)
04-10-2001
Qld: Last ditch bid to abort trial of backpackers fire accused

By Rosemary Desmond

BRISBANE, April 10 AAP - Defence counsel for the man accused of the Childers backpackers'
blaze today launched a last-ditch bid to have his trial aborted.

Robert Paul Long, 38, is charged with two counts of murder and one of arson following
the fire at the Palace Backpackers Hostel in the south-east Queensland town of Childers,
south of Bundaberg, on June 23 last year.

Fifteen young people died in the blaze, among them four Australians.

Both the defence and the prosecution argued that Long's trial should be heard in Brisbane,
not in Bundaberg.

But today, Supreme Court Justice Peter Dutney decided that the trial should go ahead
in Bundaberg as originally planned.

"I decline to exercise my discretion in favour of a change of venue," Justice Dutney
told the court.

Defence barrister Craig Chowdhury responded by applying for a permanent stay of indictment
on the grounds that the publicity surrounding the case had already prejudiced the trial.

Mr Chowdhury told reporters outside the court that the Supreme Court was due to hold
sittings in Bundaberg from mid-May but he believed that Long's trial was unlikely to go
ahead at that time.

He said a special sitting would probably have to be arranged in the second half of the year.

He expected to bring the application for the permanent stay of indictment before the
Supreme Court in a month's time and declined to comment further.

The prosecution had also argued that moving the trial to Bundaberg would be a costly
exercise involving the travel and accommodation costs of 161 witnesses, 120 of whom lived
outside the Bundaberg area and several who lived overseas.

AAP rad/sc/cjh/de

KEYWORD: LONG NIGHTLEAD (PIC AVAILABLE)

2001 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Airport taxi meeting underway

AAP General News (Australia)
01-19-2001
Vic: Airport taxi meeting underway

A meeting is underway between the Victorian government, taxi drivers and Melbourne
Airport to try to resolve a bitter dispute over a proposed new charge.

The drivers are angry at a new $1.60 parking charge that the airport wants to impose
to offset the cost of a new carpark and amenities for waiting taxis.

The cabbies voted overwhelmingly this morning to reject a compromise deal proposed
by the government to break the dispute.

Drivers voted 20-to-one …