Highlights of the AAP National Wire at 15:30, Dec 18 =2 Sydney

AAP General News (Australia)
12-18-1998
Highlights of the AAP National Wire at 15:30, Dec 18 =2 Sydney

CANBERRA - Former Howard government defence minister and National Farmers' Federation boss
Ian McLachlan was today appointed to head the new body charged with rescuing the Australian
wool industry. (WOOL MCLACHLAN, see also WOOL)



CANBERRA - It doesn't pay to be too young or too old, with a new survey showing that age is
the biggest barrier to finding a job. (JOBS SEARCH)



CANBERRA - Australia's population is aging rapidly with people aged 85 and over the fastest
growing group and the median age now 34.6 years, demography statistics released today showed.
(POPULATION)



CANBERRA - The 1998 road toll looks set to be slightly lower than last year's, with new
figures showing the toll so far this year is eight down on the same period last year. (TOLL,
see also, TOLL SA CAMPAIGN, TOLL NATIONAL)



SYDNEY - Five protesters today locked themselves onto logging equipment in forest on the
New South Wales mid-north coast earmarked by the state government as a national park, the
Wilderness Society said. (FOREST PROTEST)



SYDNEY - Police today used hydraulic bolt cutters to remove six activists who had spent the
night chained to what they believed was a contaminated ship in Sydney's Botany Bay,
environment watchdog Greenpeace said. (SHIP)



SYDNEY - An alleged bag snatcher who was affected by drugs when chased by police and others
today got the go-ahead to sue authorities over his resulting fall which left him a
quadriplegic. (CHAHROUK)



SYDNEY - Almost half of New South Wales' secondary school students commit crimes but only a
small fraction of them are caught, a new survey shows. (JUVENILE, N/L to come)



SYDNEY - Former bookmaker Bill Waterhouse, colleague Peter McCoy and punter Gary Clarke are
free to return to the racetrack after the New South Wales Thoroughbred Racing Board (TRB)
lifted their bans today. (GALLOPS WATERHOUSE)



MELBOURNE - Manufacturing giant Pacific Dunlop was fined $30,000 today after a worker was
crushed by a hook carrying a 230 kg aluminium coil. (PACDUN)



MELBOURNE - The mosquito-borne Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses had struck earlier than
expected in Victoria this summer, prompting a warning from the state's Chief Health Officer
today. (MOSQUITOES)



MELBOURNE - Victoria has become Australia's unwed state, according to figures released
today by the Bureau of Statistics. (WEDDINGS)



MELBOURNE - Victorians will play host to the Olympic torch for more than a fortnight in
2000, when it will be carried to the site of the 1956 Melbourne games, it was announced today.
(OLY TORCH VIC)



BRISBANE - Judges should "loosen up" and be less reticent, an eminent retiring Queensland
judge advised here today. (MCGUIRE)



GOLD COAST - A new type of vacuum cleaner which does not draw or emit air could
revolutionise the world's home and commercial cleaning industry, its Australian inventor said
today. (VACUUM)



ADELAIDE - An inquest into the death of an Austrian tourist who died after leaving her
bogged car in the South Australian outback is likely to be called after a post-mortem was
conducted on the woman's body today. (OUTBACK)



ADELAIDE - Viable fish farming for King George whiting is a step closer with scientists in
South Australia successfully spawning 200 of the fish in captivity for the first time.
(WHITING)



ADELAIDE - Smallgoods salesman Michael Gerard O'Rourke was so desperate not to lose his job
that he falsely boosted his sales figures - then paid the difference out of his own pocket.
(OROURKE)



ADELAIDE - Local vehicle producer Mitsubishi will close its manufacturing plant in Adelaide
for about a month over Christmas to thin out excess stocks of Magna passenger cars. (MOTOR
MITSUBISHI)



ADELAIDE - Hyundai Australia has reported a good response from customers over safety
concerns about the Hyundai Excel. (MOTOR HYUNDAI)



HOBART - The Australian Antarctic research ship Aurora Australis, which broke down in heavy
ice more than a fortnight ago, is in clear water and under its own power. (AURORA)



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KEYWORD: HIGHLIGHTS NATIONAL 2 SYDNEY

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