The Australian

leads with the government’s proposed media law changes which could see
extra television channels introduced for niche programming and existing
broadcasters given greater freedom to provide digital services.
Meanwhile, razor wire will be removed
from the perimeter of Sydney’s Villawood detention centre as part of
the government’s “softer approach” in reaction to the scathing Palmer
inquiry. And internet satellite image program Google Earth is in hot
water after Australia’s nuclear energy agency found the program
included images of Sydney’s Lucas Heights reactor.

The Sydney Morning Herald
reveals that almost $600 million earmarked by the federal government to
help drought-stricken farm families has never been spent because the
rules for claiming it were too tough, according to a Herald investigation. The SMH also reports that the Howard Government plans to use its Senate majority, which takes effect tomorrow, to rein in some of the estimates committees’ powers to investigate government bungles.

The Age also leads with the government’s unspent drought aid money. However, the paper also reports that former defence chief Peter Cosgrove
has suggested Coalition partners aim to withdraw their troops from Iraq
by the end of next year to remove a key rallying point for the
country’s terrorists, on the ABC’s Enough Rope program. And the new autobiography of former New Zealand PM David Lange describes former Australian PM Bob Hawke, as “vain and obscene.”

The Daily Telegraph
splashes the figure “89” across the front page in reference to reports
that 89 convicted sex offenders have won exemptions, overturning bans
on working with children to pursue jobs in child-related employment. The Tele also reports that the PM agrees with British prime minister Tony Blair’s plan to expel radicals
in the wake of the London bombings, saying that people who fail to
“properly embrace the values of this society,” ought to be looked at.

The Herald Sun
splashes with Joe Korp’s farewell to Maria, the wife he’s accused of
killing, in an unofficial funeral at the couple’s home yesterday.
Meanwhile, dramatic life-saving rescues on TV medical shows such as ER and All Saints are giving patients false hopes
about their survival chances, according to the AMA’s vice-president,
creating an unreal expectation that everyone could be rescued.

The Courier-Mail
reports that state Liberal MP John-Paul Langbroek’s Gold Coast dental
surgery is one of 21 practices in Queensland being investigated over
allegedly suspect billing for veterans, according to the Department of
Veterans’ Affairs. In Adelaide, The Advertiser
says Liberal MP Mark Brindal is the MP who claims to have been
blackmailed over his sexual relationship with a 24-year-old man in
electorate office earlier this year. The West Australian
reports that Premier Geoff Gallop has refused to delay building the
$387 million desalination plant at Kwinana, despite reports from the
Water Corporation favouring the water to be drawn from the Yarragadee
aquifer in the south-west. And the NT News splashes with a photo of a bloated crocodile floating belly-up in the water, under the headline, “Cane toad kills 3m croc.”