PRESS DIGEST-Australian General News - July 7

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)

In a submission to the Federal Government, Qantas Airways (QAN.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) has challenged the 11pm-to-6am curfew at Sydney Airport, arguing its future fleet of Boeing 787s will generate a 50 percent cut in noise at the airport. Singapore Airlines has put forward a similar argument for its new fleet of 777s, calling for a 'few movements' of aircraft during the curfew period. Under regulations imposed in 1996, the number of flights into Sydney is restricted to 80 an hour. Page 1.

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New South Wales (NSW) Premier Morris Iemma could be replaced within months over his plan to privatise the state's electricity industry, senior government sources say. Latest opinion polls show the Labor Party's primary vote is languishing at 28 percent in NSW. One source said: 'They [the Iemma cabinet] have their heads in the sand and just cannot see how unpopular they are.' Transport Minister John Watkins, Water Minister Nathan Rees and former education minister Carmel Tebbutt are considered the only contenders for the top job. Page 1.

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The head of the Australian Anglican Church, Phillip Aspinall, has flagged legal action against Sydney Archbishop Peter Jensen over a breakaway group that sympathises with the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans in the United States (US). The fellowship, formed last week, disagrees with the church's liberal stand on homosexual clergy and same-sex blessings. 'If people tried to make off with property that belongs to the Anglican Church, the trustees...would have an obligation to protect it,' Dr Aspinall said yesterday. Page 3.

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A new study questions the grounds for a national paid maternity leave scheme, which the Federal Government has under consideration. The study, by Australian Institute of Family Studies fellow Jennifer Baxter, shows women on unpaid leave are almost as likely to return to work by the time their child is 12 to 18 months' old as women on paid leave. 'It is having leave that makes a difference, not having paid leave,' Dr Baxter says. Proponents of the scheme say it will improve the retention of women workers. Page 4.

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