Qld: Opposition calls on Beattie to sign incentive pact

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Qld: Opposition calls on Beattie to sign incentive pact

The Queensland Opposition has called on the state government to sign a deal endorsedby other states to limit business incentives.

The Victorian, New South Wales and South Australian governments have signed a pactto limit incentives paid to attract business.

The move is targeted at businesses attempting to play off one state against anotherfor the best deal.

But Queensland has yet to sign up to the deal, continuing to pay out millions in incentivesand offering tax holidays for new businesses they want to attract to the state.

Opposition state development spokesman VAUGHAN JOHNSON says it's time Premier PETERBEATTIE joined his Labor colleagues.

It's believed Victorian Premier STEVE BRACKS has also asked Mr BEATTIE to work withother states, particularly to boost investment in new industries such as biotechnology.

AAP RTV pjo/art/rk

KEYWORD: INCENTIVES (BRISBANE)

Vic; Stem cell research centre for Melbourne's Baker Institute

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Vic; Stem cell research centre for Melbourne's Baker Institute

An international stem cell research group is setting up at the Alfred Hospital's BakerMedical Research Institute in Melbourne.

The move follows a cash grant of $250,000 from the state government to ES Cell InternationalPty Ltd.

Innovation Minister JOHN BRUMBY says the Victorian government wants to secure jobsfor research scientists while demonstrating it's serious about helping create a world-classindustry with wide applications.

It's hoped stem cell research could lead to treatments for diseases like Alzheimersand Parkinson's.

ESI was set up in Singapore two years ago and has 40 research scientists working inAustralia, Singapore, Israel and the Netherlands.

AAP RTV ra/clr/jmt

KEYWORD: STEMCELL VIC (MELBOURNE)

Fed: Union calls on PM to finalise Tesna deal

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Fed: Union calls on PM to finalise Tesna deal

SYDNEY, Feb 7 AAP - A key Ansett airline union has called for Prime Minister John Howardto intervene to ensure the sale of the airline to Tesna does not fall through.

Transport Workers Union (TWU) NSW secretary Tony Sheldon said the union wanted a meetingwith Mr Howard as soon as he returned from his trip to Indonesia.

Mr Sheldon said the federal government must intervene to finalise the sale as soon as possible.

"... it is now more urgent than ever that the federal government accept its responsibilityto guarantee Ansett is saved, 100 per cent of the legal entitlements of all the …

Vic: Qantas AIRC hearing continues

AAP General News (Australia)
12-09-2001
Vic: Qantas AIRC hearing continues

Despite calling a 24-hour respite from industrial action, unions have refused to guarantee
Qantas will be strike-free over Christmas.

Qantas and its maintenance workers have spent the day in the federal industrial court
for a rare Sunday hearing, designed to broker an agreement on their dispute.

Plans to freeze the wages of Qantas's maintenance engineers have been bitterly fought
by a campaign of work bans and rolling stoppages which began in June.

Australian Workers' Union national secretary BILL SHORTEN -- speaking before today's
talks -- says Qantas is not offering engineers a career path but is treating them no better
than McDonald's hamburger workers.

Qantas, the AWU and the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union had called a 24-hour
truce to attend the Australian Industrial Relations Commission-mediated talks.

Mr SHORTEN says if Qantas does not make a better offer by the end of today, the union
cannot promise a strife-free lead-up to the Christmas break.

Qantas representatives at the talks have refused to comment.

AAP RTV ag/jtb

KEYWORD: QANTAS AIRC (MELBOURNE)

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

NSW: Use of email has increased more than 60pc in six years

AAP General News (Australia)
04-25-2001
NSW: Use of email has increased more than 60pc in six years

SYDNEY, April 25 AAP - The use of e-mail has increased more than 600 per cent in six
years, but face-to-face meetings are still highly valued, an international e-mail study
has found.

Rogen International and Goldhaber Research Associates surveyed more than 1,200 executives
world wide and found that most spend about two hours of every working day sending and
responding to e-mails.

But, on average, about 10 minutes longer was spent in face-to-face meetings which were
particularly favoured when imparting bad news or important information, Goldhaber Research
Associates president Gerry Goldhaber said.

"The desire for employees to still use face-to-face communication for a number of important
decisions is quite encouraging in the online world," he said.

"It may be that warm flesh still beats cold plastic from many business decisions."

While 85 per cent of executives agreed e-mail had improved business communication they
complained of wasted time dealing with junk mail.

"While the impact of e-mail is dramatic, we also believe that half of an e-mail users
time is spent dealing with junk e-mail, a significant waste of an organisation's valuable
resources," Dr Goldhaber said.

Rogen International is a global consulting and training company and Goldhaber a research
organisation.

AAP aa/cjh

KEYWORD: EMAIL

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

QLD: Brisbane police negotiating with armed man

AAP General News (Australia)
02-12-2001
QLD: Brisbane police negotiating with armed man

Brisbane police are attempting to negotiate with an armed man holed up in a house on
the city's southside.

Police say a disturbance began in Birdwood Road, Holland Park, at 10pm (AEST) last
night following a domestic dispute.

A spokesman says no shots have been fired, adding police began negotiating with the
man last night.

AAP RTV geb/jtb/rsm

KEYWORD: PARK (BRISBANE)

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

NSW: Coroner s recommendations

AAP General News (Australia)
12-12-2000
NSW: Coroner s recommendations

SYDNEY, Dec 12 AAP - New South Wales coroner John Abernethy's recommendations from
the inquest into the fatal 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race:

* All yacht crew members wear an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB)
when on deck, in all conditions.

* All competing crews be trained in the use of personal EPIRBs.

* All competing yachts carry a 406 MHz EPIRB, and not a 121.5 MHz EPIRB.

* All inflatable life rafts on yachts should comply with international safety standards.

* Rafts should carry safety equipment including flares, bailer, hand pump and sea sickness
tablets.

* Weather forecasts should contain likely maximum wind gusts and wave heights as well
as averages.

* All yachts' batteries be closed or gel cell type.

* Crews on deck in rough weather wear clothing that will protect them from hypothermia.

* Crews use personal flotation devices other than the `Mae West' type.

* Crew members carry personal strobe lights when on deck in all weather conditions.

* Yachts carry on their hulls or decks markings that identify them to air rescuers.

* At least 50 per cent of crews should have completed a yacht safety and survival course
every three years.

* WorkCover NSW reports on the practice of paying some crew on racing yachts and the
ramifications which may flow.

* The NSW government considers ordering the withdrawal from the market of all harnesses
and lanyards bearing the name `Tuff Marine Australia' or any derivation of that name.

* The government consider requiring that all harnesses used by yacht crews have a crotch strap.

AAP gl/mjm/de o

KEYWORD: SYDHOB AT A GLANCE

2000 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.