AAP Internet Bulletin 1600 Friday, Dec 4, 1998

AAP General News (Australia)
12-04-1998
AAP Internet Bulletin 1600 Friday, Dec 4, 1998

[A][BOMB][FED][][]

Police detain letter bomb suspect

CANBERRA - A man sought over a nationwide letter bomb campaign has been detained at Canberra
Hospital, police said today.

Colin George Dunstan, 43, was taken into police custody this afternoon in the hospitals
emergency department, police said.

He is in a stable condition and police hope to interview him later today.

Details are sketchy but police sources said it was believed Mr Dunstan was taken to
hospital by ambulance from a south Canberra address.

Police would neither confirm nor deny reports that Mr Dunstan had tried to commit suicide.

Australian Federal Police launched a nationwide manhunt on Wednesday for Mr Dunstan, a
former Australian Tax Office employee, after 22 parcel bombs were discovered at the Canberra
mail centre, addressed mainly to tax office staff.

A further five potentially lethal bombs have been found in Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold
Coast.

It is not clear yet how Dunstan came to be in the hospital or how police learnt of his
whereabouts.

Police took the unusual step of releasing Mr Dunstans name and photograph yesterday and
said they feared for his safety and the safety of the public.

He was last seen on Sunday when he drove from his home at Palmerston, in Canberras north,
in a blue 1985 Toyota Corona sedan.

Federal police media spokesman Darryl Webb said it was not known when Mr Dunstan had been
admitted or for what reason.

"I havent got any information as to the reason why hes in here," acting Sergeant Webb
said.

"Hes in a stable condition. Were looking forward to the opportunity of speaking with
him."

Officers were alerted to Mr Dunstans admission to the hospital earlier this afternoon.

Police took the unusual step of releasing Mr Dunstans name and photograph yesterday and
said they feared for his safety and the safety of the public.

He was last seen on Sunday when he drove from his home at Palmerston, in Canberras north,
in a blue 1985 Toyota Corona sedan.

Meanwhile, police confirmed a 27th explosive parcel was found at a mail sorting centre in
Sydney.

A package found at Darlinghurst Post Office in inner Sydney was similar to 26 other
potentially lethal parcel bombs found this week.

Police said the post office in Crown Street was evacuated just after 9am (AEDT) when staff
discovered a suspicious package.

The package was detonated by the police bomb disposal and rescue squad inside the post
office late this morning.

"The remains of the controlled detonation will be taken away for forensic examination," the
spokesman said.

At least 26 potentially lethal parcel bombs have been found at addresses in Sydney,
Canberra, Melbourne and the Gold Coast since Monday.

"Police urge members of the public to continue being vigilant when checking their mail," the
Australian Federal Police said.

Mr Dunstan had been involved in a bitter workplace sexual harassment case and was
challenging the Australian Tax Office over the claim.

The matter was due to be heard in the Federal Court in March.

A tax office psychological report on Mr Dunstan lodged with the court described him as
"distressingly emotionally immature".

Court documents also showed that Mr Dunstan was seeking compensation for being wrongfully
suspended and defamation.

Mr Dunstan claimed he had been the victim of sexual harassment rather than the perpetrator.

The Daily Telegraph reported today that Mr Dunstan had made a workers compensation claim for
depression as a result of the sexual harassment case.

The newspaper said he had attempted suicide two months after the affair with the work
colleague ended in 1992.

His de facto wife, Sokkha Hac, told the Sydney Morning Herald her partner was not involved
in the letter bomb campaign.

"I do not believe my husband could have done something such as this," she said.

Mr Dunstan has three children, a boy and twin girls, who live with his first wife in
Canberra.





[I][BOSNIA KRSTIC][EUR]

Bosnian general accused of ordering thousands dead

AMSTERDAM - A key Bosnian Serb general arrested by NATO troops on genocide charges commanded
the soldiers who executed thousands of Muslims and dumped them in mass graves, his UN
indictment revealed.

General Radislav Krstic, seized by US members of the NATO peacekeeping force on Wednesday,
is the most senior Serb military officer arrested so far in the effort to bring to trial
Bosnians accused of war crimes.

Krstic arrived last night in The Hague, where the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal will try him
for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva
Conventions.

An arraignment date has not been set.

Details of his indictment - unsealed and made public yesterday - allege that troops under
his command committed offences after the rebel Serb takeover of the UN safe haven of Srebrenica
in eastern Bosnia in July 1995.

According to the indictment, forces under Krstic and Bosnian Serb wartime military chief
General Ratko Mladic "either expelled or killed" most of the members of the Bosnian Muslim
population of the Srebrenica enclave, using automatic weapons, hand grenades and other
weaponry.

Krstic planned and assisted in the "preparation or execution of a planned and organised mass
execution of thousands of captured Bosnian Muslim men," reads the indictment, which was issued
in October. It had been kept secret so he wouldn't be prompted to flee.

The killings, described in the indictment as "wide-scale and organised," allegedly occurred
in several locations in and around the enclave, including a warehouse and schools.

Soldiers under Krstic's command used heavy equipment to bury the victims in mass graves.
When the international community learned of the killings, Krstic and his units dug up the
bodies and transferred them to other graves, the indictment alleges.

In Sarajevo, survivors of the Srebrenica massacre applauded Krstic's arrest.





[T][GOLF OPEN][GOLF]

Appleby and Gow share lead in Australian Open

ADELAIDE - New South Welshman PAUL GOW and Victorian STUART APPLEBY are the joint leaders on
day two of the Australian Open golf at Royal Adelaide.

The pair are at three under par after GOW shot a two under par round of 70 today while
APPLEBY has played six holes at even par.

Three players are a shot back on two under par with Canadian RICK GIBSON two shots off the
pace on one under the card.

GREG NORMAN has dropped six shots in 10 holes today to fall to four over the card after
starting the day at two under.

American FRED COUPLES shot his second round of 76 to go to eight over par for the two rounds
and is likely to miss the cut tonight.





[A][FAATUPUINATI][Vic]

Worker forced to have sex with boss wins $50,000

MELBOURNE - A factory worker whose boss forced her to have sex with him was this week
awarded $50,000 by a tribunal, which described her case as an extreme example of sexual
harassment.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) heard Suzie Faatupuinati, a Somalian
immigrant who spoke little English, was forced to have sex with the plant production
facilitator, Peter Balaskis, at Hendersons Industries.

"It is the tribunals view that the unlawful conduct that it finds Mr Balaskis has engaged
in constitutes sexual harassment of the gravest kind," tribunal members John Wolters and Jan
King stated in their written judgment.

They described his behaviour as: "The conscious exploitation of a position of power in the
workplace to enable the gratification of sexual desires in circumstances where it is obvious
that the conduct is unwelcome."

The tribunals anti-discrimination section heard that from June 1996 Ms Faatupuinati was
induced to go to a hotel room with Mr Balaskis under threat of dismissal.

She alleged Mr Balaskis forced her to have vaginal, anal and oral sex without a condom and
despite her persistent protests.

Evidence was accepted by the tribunal that the name "Peter" along with Mr Balaskis correct
car registration number had been found in the day book of the Oakleigh Motel on July 25.

"That the respondent did not, once he was faced with what must have seemed even to him as
strong evidence ... resile from his total denial of having had sex with the complainant has not
helped his case," the tribunal members said.

The tribunal found Ms Faatupuinati would have been "deeply offended and humiliated" by her
supervisors actions and accepted she was still suffering from mild post-traumatic stress.

The $50,000 compensation was awarded for the loss and injury suffered, extreme humiliation,
loss of enjoyment of life and psychological and emotional injury.





[F][DOLLAR CREDIT]

Australian dollar and bonds firm but market is quiet

SYDNEY - The Australian dollar a smidgen higher at noon in quiet dealings, and stuck in the
middle of a $US0.6235 to $US0.6275 range.

In the debt market traders were consolidating the weeks business with most interest seen in
buying the 3-year bond.

At noon the local currency was buying $US0.6250/55, from yesterdays close of 0.6257/62.

It was buying 73.91/74 Japanese yen from 74.70/79 yesterday,
1.0421/32 German marks from 1.0447/59, 0.3747/52 pounds sterling from 0.3750/55, and 1.1909/30
New Zealand dollars from 1.1901/20.

At noon, the US dollar was trading at 118.30/35 Japanese yen from 119.50/55 locally
yesterday and 1.6667/72 German marks from 1.6705/10.

Mike Hollows, chief dealer at HSBC Markets said the currency retained a bid at $US0.6230
amid ongoing support from US funds.

"Weve seen a lot of Aussie/yen selling over the past few days. I dont expect that to
follow through or continue today. Its come a long way quite quickly and were probably in for
a bit of consolidation, taking the pressure off the Aussie temporarily anyway," he said.

In the debt market, the benchmark Commonwealth Government August 2008 bond yield was at 4.75
per cent and steady with yesterdays close, while the November 2001 yield was at 4.33 per cent
from 4.40 per cent.

On the Sydney Futures Exchange, at noon the December 10-year bond futures price was 95.275
from 95.260, while the December three-year bond was 95.65 from 95.57.

The December bank accepted bill futures was priced at 95.28 and steady and the March bill
was at 95.55, up five basis points.





[F][AUST STOCKS NOON]

Stocks just lower at noon on recovery

MELBOURNE - The Australian sharemarket remains just lower at noon but is steadily recovering
as key stocks find support at low prices.

The all ordinaries index is down just 2.1 points at noon at 2718.2, with a fall of more than
two per cent on Wall Street overnight already factored in by yesterdays large fall on the
local bourse.

"Obviously our market pre-empted the fall overseas with our much weaker performance
yesterday," Steve Mayne from Macquarie Nevitts said.

"Even though there were concerns overseas with concerns on Brazil and other areas, we seemed
to weigh those factors up yesterday," he said.

The all industrials index is down 10.6 points to 4837.6, with transport group Brambles
falling 71.6 cents to $38.60 after a strong run-up in recent days.

Global media group News Corp is improving after being weak early after its American
Depository Receipts fell with the broader US market overnight.

The ordinary shares are up a cent to $10.68 while the preferreds remain 13 cents down at
$9.65.

The banking sector is outperforming the market, with Commonwealth Bank the strongest of the
majors with a 22.4 cent gain to $22.00.

Of the other big four banks, National Australia Bank is up $23.60, ANZ is seven cents higher
at $10.25 and Westpac has improved four cents to $10.02.





[F][VEHICLES]

New vehicle sales at record levels

ADELAIDE - Sales of new vehicles in Australia have surged to record levels even before the
end of 1998.

Releasing its VFACTS sales bulletin for November, the Federal Chamber of Automotive
Industries (FCAI) said today that sales to the end of last month had soared to 736,107 units,
13,680 more than 722,427 retailed for the full 12 months of 1997.

That was expected to see total demand for the year to jump to more than 800,000 units,
giving the vehicle industry a record market for the second year in a row.

The FCAI said 70,277 new cars and commercials were sold in November, up 9.5 per cent on the
64,128 sold in November last year and up 7.1 per cent on the 65,583 sold in October.

Over the 11 months sales were up 12.2 per cent with the 736,107 units this year compared to
the 655,868 vehicles retailed to the end of November in 1997.

Toyota was the market leading company last month, its 16,558 units not only putting it
almost 3,000 ahead of Holden for the month but also jumping it ahead of Holden in the battle
for overall market leadership in 1998.

With just December to go, Toyota had retailed 141,196 vehicles, leaving it 1,678 ahead,

suggesting the battle for top spot would go right down to the wire, something predicted by
both companies earlier this year.

Holden retailed 13,667 vehicles last month, its best November result since 1979 while Ford
sold 11,693 vehicles to retain third spot in the sales race.

Despite falling behind Toyota, Holdens director of sales and marketing, Ross McKenzie, said
the company was pleased with its performance.

"Its another example of where Holden has demonstrated the best sales continuity in the
industry with monthly figures in excess of 12,000 since February," Mr McKenzie said.





[A][SUNSHINE][NSW]

Families claim gov is discriminating against disabled

SYDNEY - Seven families today lodged a bizarre claim with the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board,
alleging their disabled relatives are being discriminated against because they are not
neglected, abused or dying.

The families have lodged complaints with the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board against Premier
Bob Carr, Community Services Minister Faye Lo Po, Ageing and Disability Department manager
director general Jane Woodruff and manager, Anna Kalnins.

In a letter today to Anti-Discrimination Board President, Chris Puplick, the families claim
their relatives have been denied funding for relocation from their institution to
community-based care because they are "too well cared for".

"Our family members are being discriminated against because they are not neglected, abused
or dying," the letter says.

Group spokesman David Montgomery told AAP funding for relocation was only allocated to
residents of institutions which became the subject of public scandal.

He said while his child was not being abused, that fact should not be held against him.

"The standard of care is dropping, even though hes not abused," Mr Montgomery said.

"The funding isnt there any more, so they are disadvantaged".

The families have six relatives all residing at The Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home, at Gore
Hill, in Sydneys north.

Sunshine Home chief executive Jim McMenamin told AAP while the home did its best, people
were poorly served in all institutions and fared much better in community-based care.

"Government has left them without any reason to hope for support to live a life in the
community," Mr McMenamin said.



[T][HOCKEY AUST WOMEN][HOCK]

Hockeyroos lose 2-1 to Argentina

SYDNEY - An experimental Hockeyroos line-up has lost 2-1 to a full-strength Argentina in the
first of a three games series in Mar del Plata overnight.

Argentina opened the scoring in the third minute and dominated in a first half which
Australian coach Ric Charlesworth described as lacklustre.

But the Hockeyroos picked up the pace in the second half, and despite conceding another
goal, they recovered with a Jenny Morris penalty corner in the last minute of the game.

It was Morris second goal on the tour, in which Australia play Argentina twice on the
weekend, before facing arch-rivals, the Netherlands in three games next week.





[A][BILLY][WA][]

North-west coast prepares for cyclone Billy

PERTH - Residents of Western Australias north-west coast today were warned to prepare for
gale-force winds, as tropical cyclone Billy moved in from the ocean.

Early this morning the category two cyclone was 305km north-northwest of Port Hedland,
1,700km north of Perth, and moving south-west at 10 kph.

WAs Bureau of Meteorology said the system was moving slightly towards the coast, bringing
strong squally winds to the area between Port Hedland and Exmouth, 500km to the south.

"Gales could develop during Saturday if the cyclone continues to move closer to the coast,"
a spokesman said.

Winds at Billys centre were gusting to about 125kph.

Communities between Port Hedland and Exmouth were advised to prepare themselves to go on
cyclone alert by clearing yards of any unsecured objects and tying down anything too large to
move.





[A][FORESTS][NSW]

NSW attacks federal conservation minister over forests

SYDNEY - A major conflict between New South Wales and the Commonwealth erupted today over
federal Conservation and Forestry Minister Wilson Tuckeys refusal to sign a timber deal with
the state.

Mr Tuckey wanted the state government to cut back the 134,000 hectares of new national parks
near Eden, recently enshrined in new laws, before he signed a regional forest agreement with
NSW, a spokesman for the minister said today.

Mr Tuckey has said the parks are too big.

"The minister is saying that under the negotiation process ... the amount of area under
national parks would have to be looked at again and reduced," the spokesman said.

Mr Tuckey also wanted to look at a "whole-of-forest approach" to logging which would allow
logging in all forests, rather than "locking up these areas and gazetting them forever".

NSW Labor Forestry Minister Kim Yeadon said Mr Tuckey was wanting to log in national parks.

"Its clear that the federal government is proposing in secret to log national parks," Mr
Yeadon said.

He accused his federal counterpart of being "out of his depth and out of control" and said
he was living up to his nickname of Iron Bar Tuckey.

The regional forest agreement (RFA) sets out woodchip export licences after next year and
provides the state government with $40 million for timber industry assistance.

The NSW government has announced the areas available for logging in the next 20 years under
a plan that has been savagely attacked by environmentalists.



[X][INTERNET MERGER]

US critics fear end of 'free and open' Internet

NEW YORK - The megamerger of America Online and Netscape is prompting concerns from
cyberspace watchdogs who say the values of openness, generosity and diversity championed by
early users of the Internet are being overcome by corporate demands for higher market share and
profits.

The tension between the competing forces began some three years ago when millions of new AOL
users began flooding the Net, ending the hegemony of the computer elite.

But this weeks merger deal signals a new stage in the growing corporate influence over the
Internet.

"The battle between individual expression and freedom, and corporation domination and greed
on the Web just got a lot uglier," said Jon Katz, media critic and columnist for the Freedom
Forum, an international organisation that supports journalism and free speech.

America Online Inc, which serves as the link to the Internet for 14 million people, makes no
apologies for its role in commercialising the Internet, saying consumers want its expanding
level of services.

As for accusations that it acts as a censor, AOL notes that some of its customers - parents,
for instance - like some controls over what their children can see.

"People's frame of reference is our online service," said Barry Schuler, president of AOL
Interactive Services. "It's what people associate with AOL."

But he said the family-friendly standards imposed on that service are not applied to its
other brands, soon to include Netscape.

The critics' virulence stems from the fact that the Internet has moved so far beyond its
roots.

The Net's founding fathers of scientists, researchers and computer devotees created a
digital culture of share and share alike, free speech and alternative politics, said David
Cassel, editor of the AOLwatch newsletter and a harsh critic of the company.





[I][US MICROSOFT][US]

Microsoft accuses rival of software deal

WASHINGTON - Microsoft has confronted a rival computer executive with e-mail that suggested
his company offered in late 1997 to cease work on its Internet browser software and agree not
to compete with another company.

Citing the e-mail yesterday, Microsoft accused Sun Microsystems, then developing its HotJava
Internet browser, of proposing to "unify browser efforts (and) stop competing" with Netscape.

Netscape's was at the time the world's most popular browser. HotJava never was sold as a
commercial product.

The allegation is significant because one of the government's central claims against
Microsoft is that it tried illegally to divide the market with Netscape for Internet software
in June 1995, months before Microsoft began offering any browser, the software that lets people
view information on the Internet.

Spokesman Mark Murray criticised the government's "irresponsible double standard" in
challenging Microsoft's competitive position and called Sun's alleged offer "certainly far more
explicit and far more questionable than anything Microsoft discussed with Netscape."

The government said it had no evidence Sun's alleged offer was carried forward, and little
information was available about the context of any agreement between the companies.

"The fact somebody else raises competitive problems doesn't get Microsoft off the hook,"
Justice Department lawyer David Boies said outside the courtroom. "Whatever two companies did
doesn't make an antitrust violation appropriate. The everybody-else-does-it defence really
doesn't work."

An outside antitrust lawyer, Daniel Wall of San Francisco, said the allegation hurts the
government's case.

"This sure looks like the deal the government is complaining about," said Wall. "Each time
they have to distinguish away something that walks and talks and quacks like the same thing,
their position becomes more and more unappealing."

Microsoft's lawyer, Tom Burt, used the e-mail from Sun employee Karen Oliphant to confront
James Gosling, a vice president and one of Sun's top scientists.





[I][Death Row Escape]

Body found near prison was escaped killer

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - A death row inmate who escaped Thanksgiving was found dead Thursday in a
river about four miles from the prison, authorities said.

Martin Gurule, 29, was the first man to flee Texas' death row since a member of the Bonnie
and Clyde gang escaped in 1934. He had been the subject of a massive manhunt.

Gurule's bloated corpse was discovered about 5:30 P.M. Beneath a bridge over the Trinity
River by two off-duty prison guards fishing near the community of Riverside, said prison
spokesman Larry Todd.

Authorities did not immediately say how Gurule died.

Gurule was among seven condemned killers who tried to break out of the Ellis Unit 15 miles
northeast of Huntsville late Thanksgiving night.

The other six surrendered as guards in towers opened fire after spotting them, but Gurule
managed to get over a pair of 10-foot chainlink fences topped with razor wire and scamper into
the fog and darkness.

Tracking dogs lost Gurule's scent on a road near the prison. A massive search that focused
on the area immediately surrounding the prison failed to turn up any leads, and authorities on
Thursday posted a $5,000 reward for Gurule's capture.

All seven inmates, who used a hacksaw blade to cut a hole in a death row recreation area
fence, were part of the nation's only prison work program that uses death row inmates.

The work project, where inmates make cloth goods for the corrections system, has been
suspended by prison administrators.





[S][TENNIS SENIORS][TEN]

Noah edges Forget, McEnroe beats Vilas

LONDON - John McEnroe underlined his mastery of seniors tennis with a 6-1, 6-4 win over
Guillermo Vilas in the opening round of the ATP Seniors competition at Olympia here tonight.

Winner of four events in a row, McEnroe breezed through the first set in 25 minutes and was
3-1 up in the second before Vilas, winner of four Grand Slam events in his career, fought
back.

The 46-year-old Argentine won four games in a row to lead 4-3 before McEnroe responded with
three to take the match.

"I wasn't that happy with my game," McEnroe said.

"I started to fiddle around a bit in the second set to give the crowd something to shout
about but I couldn't afford to do that on the main tour."

Yannick Noah saved four match points before beating fellow Frenchman Guy Forget 6-7 (7-2),
6-4, 13-11 in the opening match.

The one hour, 25-minute match went into a tie-break third set, which lasts a minimum 10
points but went to 24.

The eight-man competition is split into two groups.

McEnroe is grouped with Vilas, Henri Leconte and Mansour Bahrami, while Noah and Forget are
in with Pat Cash and John Lloyd.

Bahrami beat Leconte 7-5, 6-7 (7-5), 10-6 and Cash downed Lloyd 6-1, 7-5 in other matches
played today.

KEYWORD: NETNEWS 1600

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