Vic: Main stories in the Melbourne newspapers=2

AAP General News (Australia)
04-30-2010
Vic: Main stories in the Melbourne newspapers=2

THE AGE:

Page 1: Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has rejected the idea of a big Australia
of 36 million people. A third of patients in Victorian emergency departments were not
moved to hospital beds within eight hours in the second half of last year, casting serious
doubt on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's pledge to reduce waits to four hours.

Page 2: Tony Abbott has refused to back Kevin Rudd's $5 billion tobacco crackdown -
a push to ban brand logos from cigarette packs and increase tax by more than $2 a packet
- arguing it is just a panic tax by a government addicted to spending.

Page 3: Planning Minister Justin Madden has fuelled fresh speculation about his role
in the Windsor Hotel affair, repeatedly refusing to say if he was aware of a scheme to
pervert the planning process for the hotel's redevelopment.

World: Europe's debt crisis has deepened with the downgrading of Spain's credit rating
and rising pressure to approve a bailout for Greece that could run to 120 billion euros
($A172 billion).

Finance: ANZ chief executive Mike Smith has described Australia as two-thirds of the
way through the global downturn, but cautioned that the economy remains vulnerable to
external shocks, with the Greek debt crisis sparking fears of a chain reaction across
Europe.

Sport: An offensive YouTube video which depicted West Coast cult hero Nic Naitanui
as a native tribesman who speaks in clicks has been taken off the internet after complaints
from anti-racism campaigners.

AAP jrd/sn

KEYWORD: MONITOR FRONTERS VIC 2 MELBOURNE (REOPENS)

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