AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Evening, April 5

AAP General News (Australia)
04-05-2011
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Evening, April 5
Evening Round-Up: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 1630


RBA (SYDNEY)

The central bank has kept official interest rates steady at 4.75 per cent after today's
monthly meeting .. in a widely anticipated move.

The cash rate was last raised in November .. in a pre-emptive move against inflation
amid the threat of rising commodity prices and a tightening labour market.

RBA governor GLENN STEVENS has said today that inflation is consistent with the central
bank's medium-term monetary policy .. having declined significantly from its peak in 2008.

Some economists now don't expect a change in the cash rate for several more months
.. because of this favourable inflation outlook.

National Australia Bank senior economist SPIROS PAPADOPOULOS says the Reserve Bank
appears fairly comfortable with its mildly restrictive stance of monetary policy.



Climate Gillard (CANBERRA)

Prime Minister JULIA GILLARD has refused to reveal whether she advised her predecessor
KEVIN RUDD to kill off his government's emissions trading scheme.

Mr RUDD has revealed members of his cabinet urged him to not just shelve the ETS ..

but kill it off altogether.

Asked today if she was one of those members .. Ms GILLARD said it wasn't proper to
discuss confidential discussions between cabinet colleagues but that she's always believed
they need to tackle climate change.

Mr RUDD's decision to delay the ETS was instrumental in a plunge in voter support for
him that quickly saw him toppled as PM and replaced by Ms GILLARD.

Prime Minister GILLARD has also refused to comment on the latest Newspoll which shows
Labor's support has collapsed to an eight-year low .. with its primary support at just
32 per cent.



Detention Bowen (SYDNEY)

Federal immigration minister CHRIS BOWEN has defended the opening of a new detention
centre in Tasmania as prudent .. saying it's not a sign the government's asylum seeker
policy has failed.

Mr BOWEN has announced a new asylum seeker detention facility at Pontville .. about
30 kilometres outside Hobart .. today.

It will house up to 400 single adult men and is only temporary as work to finish two
new detention centres at Wickham point in the Northern Territory and Northam in WA continues.

The Pontville centre will undergo a 15 million dollar upgrade and will initially house
250 people when it opens in May.

It's expected to stay open for six months.



Japan Radiation (TOKYO)

Workers are pumping more than 11 million litres of contaminated water from Japan's
tsunami-ravaged nuclear power complex into the Pacific Ocean.

This will free storage space for even more highly radioactive water that's hampered
efforts to stabilise the plant's reactors.

The government has also asked Russia for a ship that is used to dispose of liquid nuclear
waste .. as it tries to decontaminate the Fukushima nuclear complex .. whose cooling systems
were knocked out by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami last month.



Nuclear Garnaut (CAIRNS)

Meanwhile .. the federal Government's chief climate adviser Professor ROSS GARNAUT
believes nuclear power still has a vital role to play in global efforts to reduce emissions
.. despite the crisis at Japan's Fukushima plant.

Professor GARNAUT has told scientists at the CSIRO's Greenhouse conference in Cairns
.. that nuclear power will play a significant part in reducing emissions in developing
countries such as China.

He says the task of tackling climate change would be much harder without nuclear power.

However .. Professor GARNAUT says it makes little sense for Australia to shift to nuclear
power while it has an abundance of alternative resources.



Morcombe (MAROOCHYDORE)

A former prisoner has told an inquest into the disappearance of Queensland boy DANIEL
MORCOMBE that he believes one of the persons of interest was responsible.

The witness has been giving evidence in the Maroochydore Coroners Court today .. saying
he met person of interest P5 while they were both serving at the Wolston Correctional
Centre in about 2005.

He's told the court he never spoke directly with P5 about DANIEL .. however he had
heard many rumours that P5 was responsible.

He also says P5 tried to sell him a blue car .. similar to one reportedly seen parked
near the 13 year-old shortly before he disappeared.

DANIEL went missing while waiting for a bus on the Sunshine Coast on December seven
2003 .. several witnesses have previously told the inquest they saw one or two men standing
near him while he waited by the side of the Nambour Connection Road.



TV Ten Bolt (SYDNEY)

Network Ten is remaining tight-lipped on reports conservative columnist ANDREW BOLT
has made a pilot for a Sunday morning talk show.

The Australian newspaper says the nation's richest woman GINA REINHART .. who has a
ten per cent stake in Ten .. is a fan of BOLT and believes that a right wing Fox News
style show is needed on the network.

BOLT is currently a regular panellist on the ABC's Insiders and according to the paper
he has told host BARRIE CASSIDY that he might have to withdraw from the show if a project
he is working on comes to fruition.



Briefly in other news ..



US Guantanamo (WASHINGTON)

In a major about-face .. the Obama administration has said September 11 mastermind
KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMMED and four alleged co-conspirators will be tried by a military tribunal
at Guantanamo Bay .. rather than a civilian court in New York.



LNP Palmer (BRISBANE)

Mining magnate CLIVE PALMER says an independent probe into electoral bribery claims
against the Liberal National Party is the result of political pressure from Labor.



Epshtein (MELBOURNE)

A woman's been sentenced to 17 years in jail for stabbing her Melbourne drug dealer to death.



Groin (BRISBANE)

Brisbane police have charged a man who was shot in the groin after he allegedly charged
at officers while armed with six knives.



in Finance ..



SGX Swan (CANBERRA)

Treasurer WAYNE SWAN says the takeover of the Australian Stock Exchange by its Singaporean
counterpart is NOT in the national interest.

Mr SWAN says it's routine for the Foreign Investment Review Board to advise the applicant
of any national interest concerns before a final decision is made.

The government-owned SGX announced an 8.4 billion dollar takeover of the ASX in October.



Trade (SYDNEY)

Australia has posted its first trade deficit in almost a year.

The Bureau of Statistics says our trade balance went into a seasonally adjusted deficit
of 205 million dollars in February .. from a downwardly revised surplus of 1.4 billion
in January.

That's surprised economists .. who had been expecting a surplus of 1.1 billion in February.



in Sport ..



AFL Cats (MELBOURNE)

Geelong are likely to be bolstered by a trio of returning star players for Sunday's
AFL clash with Port Adelaide at Skilled Stadium.

The Cats will be boosted in their bid for a hat-trick of wins by the addition of MATTHEW
SCARLETT .. CAMERON MOONEY .. and JOEL SELWOOD.



AFL Saints (MELBOURNE)

St Kilda captain NICK RIEWOLDT has rejected teammate JASON GRAM's comments that the
Saints might still be brooding over their losses in the past two AFL grand finals.

St Kilda will go into Sunday's game against Essendon with a one point loss to Geelong
and a draw with Richmond .



RL Raiders (SYDNEY)

Canberra coach DAVID FURNER has retained MATT ORFORD at halfback for Saturday night's
clash with Penrith .. despite intense pressure on him to sack the former Dally M medallist.



RL Judiciary (SYDNEY)

Gold Coast's GREG BIRD will miss the Titans NRL clash with North Queensland after accepting
a one-match ban for striking Canberra's MATT ORFORD.



ENDS EVENING ROUND-UP

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