What Australian newspapers say Friday, December 13

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What Australian newspapers say Friday, December 13

(Repeating, corrects dateline)

SYDNEY, Dec 13 AAP - Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward's maternity leave planis discriminatory and robs women of choice, The Daily Telegraph says today.

Its editorial says Ms Goward's proposal discriminates against two-thirds of motherswho would not be eligible for the benefit.

"It rewards only a mother in full-time employment - and ignores the wishes of the majoritywho prefer to combine home duties and outside employment," it says.

"Ms Goward's proposal also ignores the fact that only 40 per cent of mothers returnto the work force after 12 months unpaid maternity leave."

The Age says Ms Goward's paid maternity leave proposal is practical, convincing andshould be adopted.

"Australia and the United States are the only OECD countries that make no general provisionsfor paid maternity leave," its editorial says.

"Her proposal is practical and persuasive. A paid maternity leave scheme has long been overdue.

"Ms Goward has brought it one step closer."

The Australian says competitive ticket pricing is far more likely to attract airlinepatrons than another levy - this time to upgrade screening equipment.

Its editorial says while every airline passenger supports tighter airport security,the government's recourse to levies is becoming tiresome.

Transport Minister John Anderson "hopes extra security will bring passengers back",the paper says.

"He may be right, but it sounds more like wishful thinking given the high - and rising- costs of flying".

The Australian Financial Review says the tax system is complex, arbitrary and unfair,and the government digs its hands deep into people's pockets more than any other in history.

Its editorial says abuse of the system flourishes because of that.

It says US contemplation of tax cuts shows the Bush administration has more faith inthe ability of tax cuts to stimulate growth and offset their nominal cost to the revenuethan the Howard government.

"With a top rate of nearly 50 per cent for incomes only modestly above average earnings,it forces eight million Australian to the expense and bother of claiming deductions, andlarge numbers into tax minimisation schemes, just to reduce their effective tax rates."

Brisbane's Courier-Mail says it's pure folly if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein thinkshe can play for time while pressing forward with the construction of nuclear, chemicaland biological weapons.

He may have written a 12,000-page tome in response to the United Nations Security Councilorder to catalogue its weapons of mass destruction, it says.

But the paper's editorial says the US strategy was spelt out - in just six pages.

The US warned it reserves the right to "resort to all our options" to the use of weaponsof mass destruction against the US and allies.

The paper says the document would have stirred chilling memories for Saddam, who receiveda similar missive on the eve of the 1991 Gulf War, warning him of the "severest consequences"

if he unleashed such weapons against Desert Storm forces.

The Herald Sun says sexual predator Andrew Davies has been jailed indefinitely butonly after he received laughable penalties for offences he committed over the past decade.

Academic arguments about sentencing too often focus on deterrence and the offender'slikelihood of rehabilitation while overlooking the need to protect the community, itseditorial says.

"Only among the silent majority, and in particular the victims, is there a justifiablystrident demand that criminals who are clearly dangerous should be locked away where theycan do no more harm."

The Sydney Morning Herald calls on the NSW government to ban political donations bydevelopers ahead of next year's state election.

Its editorial says a draft code of conduct for local government from the IndependentCommission Against Corruption (ICAC) includes commendable proposals.

"Human nature and political ambition, however, suggest they do not go far enough," it says.

"As the ICAC devises further recommendations, it needs to consider serving the mostobvious conduit for town planning corruption - political donations from developers."

The Advertiser says the collapse of Port Adelaide electricity trader, the FlindersOsborne Trading Company, continues a trend for governments having to bail out bad investments.

"It can reasonably be said that the collapse of the American parent NRG Energy couldnot be foreseen let alone factored into calculations," its editorial says.

But a common thread throughout many financial fiascos was that Australian state governmentswere obsessed with deals which could be presented to voters as economic achievements,it says.

"Here is yet another reason to re-examine the madness of a national competition policywhich is delivering the exact opposite."

AAP pw

KEYWORD: EDITORIALS (REISSUING)