HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 14:45, Dec 18 =2

AAP General News (Australia)
12-18-2006
HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 14:45, Dec 18 =2

WELLINGTON - An Australian man will be spending Christmas in a New Zealand jail after
trying to take on the identity of a long-dead baby in order to smooth the path for his
family's immigration into the country. (NZ Clarke Aust)

PORT MORESBY - Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare could be called to testify
at an inquiry into how Australian lawyer Julian Moti was flown on a PNG military plane
to the Solomon Islands. (PNG Moti to come.)

CANBERRA - Almost four years since a firestorm in Canberra destroyed more than 500
homes and killed four people, the ACT Coroner is preparing to hand down her report into
the disaster (BUSHFIRES INQUEST TO COME)

CANBERRA - Refugee advocates say the shortfall of public housing in Canberra will limit
the government's bid to resettle five Sudanese families.(SUDAN ACT to come)

CANBERRA - EMBARGOED study on fertility of Australian women.

CANBERRA - Parents have no need to worry about bullying if their children sign up to
a new defence force gap year scheme, the force's chief recruiter says. (Recruits Brigadier)

SYDNEY - Police heading the Blue Mountains search for a missing schoolboy bushwalker
believe the teenager is now without water. (Solitary. N/L to come.)

SYDNEY - A Singaporean national has been found guilty of trying to murder his two young
daughters by forcefeeding them sleeping tablets in their Sydney unit. (POISON to come.

N/L to follow)

SYDNEY - More than 66,000 year 12 students across NSW are counting down the hours to
the release of this year's Higher School Certificate (HSC) results. (HSC)

SYDNEY - The nuclear regulator says it cannot tell Sydney residents when cargoes of
nuclear material are transported through their suburbs because the information could attract
"mischief". (Nuclear Fuel Second Daylead)

SYDNEY - Most jurors support the use of video evidence in child sexual assault cases,
a new survey in NSW has found. (Jurors)

MELBOURNE - The Victorian government has released a list of venues from which poker
machines will be removed as part of its regional caps policy. (Pokies Vic)

MELBOURNE - Victoria's police corruption watchdog has been given new phone-tapping
powers after Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock withdrew his objection to the proposal.

(Corruption Vic)

MELBOURNE - A Melbourne man jailed for kidnapping baby Montana Barbaro has won an appeal
against his sentence that reduces his maximum jail term by two years. (McEachran. N/L
to come )

MELBOURNE - Federal Treasurer Peter Costello has said the HECS system is one of the
most generous in the world, after Labor branded it a national disgrace. (HECS Costello)

MELBOURNE - The 13 Melbourne men accused of forming a terrorist cell have pleaded not
guilty to all charges. (Terror Vic)

BRISBANE - A coroner has found no one should face charges over the death of a teenage
girl after her hair became entangled in spa pump at a resort on Queensland's Sunshine
Coast. (Boyce. N/L to come)

BRISBANE - A Brisbane father of three killed in Iraq when his armoured vehicle was
hit by an explosive device had worried about such deadly attacks, his friend says. (Iraq
Gilchrist )

BRISBANE - Emergency crews have restored power to most homes on the Sunshine Coast
after a storm with winds up to 196 km/h lashed the region on Saturday night. (Storm Qld
2nd Daylead)

BRISBANE - The Queensland government says its delivered every one of its promises it
pledged to deliver in its first 100 days but the AMA will conduct its own audit of the
report. (REPORT QLD TO COME)

BRISBANE - Man who smashed up a cemetery at Toowoomba sentenced. (STARLING TO COME)

BRISBANE - Queensland Roads minister Paul Lucas admitted today that people using pedestrian
crossing buttons could be at risk of electric shock. (PEDESTRIAN to come)

ADELAIDE - Full services on The Ghan passenger train service have returned to normal
following last week's crash, operator Great Southern Railway says. (Ghan )

PERTH - Four bushfires in a West Australian national park have joined to form one massive
blaze. (Bushfires WA)

AAP sp

KEYWORD: HIGHLIGHTS NATIONAL 2 SYDNEY

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.