The Australian

leads with John Howard’s decision not to include radical Muslim clerics
in his terror summit on Tuesday, prompting warnings from moderate
leaders that the long-awaited meeting could further isolate the
extremists. Matt Price
says that a “stunningly overzealous” instruction issued to
parliamentary security staff banning the use of the term “mate” and
similar colloquialisms in public will be overturned today after being
ridiculed as absurd and un-Australian.

The Sydney Morning Herald
goes big with Qantas’s plans to shift thousands of jobs overseas
despite reporting a record profit of $763.6 million yesterday. The
paper also publishes Justice Michael McHugh’s top 10 women
who would make “first-class” High Court judges when he retires in
November after 17 years. And we liked this Letter to the Ed of the SMH:

If Telstra profits are approaching $5 billion a year, and
the share price is so low that the Prime Minister is considering
delaying the sale of the remaining 51 per cent, it would make more
financial sense for the Government to buy back the 49 per cent it sold
rather than sell the 51 per cent it still owns.

Geoff Telfer, Cordeaux Heights

The Age
leads with the leaked police files debacle with Justice Department
Secretary Penny Armytage offering to take some of the blame for the
embarrassing bungle, saying she should have phoned or emailed the Police
Minister to tell him about the release of confidential police files,
rather than rely on a briefing note. Meanwhile, some released detainees are becoming institutionalised and are so ill-prepared for life
outside that they have asked to be returned to detention, say two refugee
workers. And political editor Michelle Grattan considers whether Bill Heffernan is stalking Barnaby Joyce as
their paths continually cross in the expansive corridors of power in
Parliament House.

The Herald Sun
splashes with Gust Korp’s attempt to sell the story of his brother
Joe’s suicide, proposing that the Nine Network film Joe’s final hours, while
Channel 7 was offered an exclusive deal for a “final interview” with
Joe. Meanwhile the federal government will crack down on the work-for-the-dole
programs, like interpretive dance courses, carving
wooden toys and acting classes, that failed to provide recipients with any skills that could
help secure them a job.

The Daily Telegraph‘s
front page headline reads “MATE: IT’S AN INSULT” following instructions
that Parliament House security guards address people as “sir”
or “ma’am” rather than “mate.” Former NSW premier Bob Carr has a new job
– for which he won’t be paid – with the Australian American Leadership
Dialogue for which he will give a series of lectures on
American-Australian relations.

The Courier-Mail
reports that both the Liberal and Labor parties are using recorded
phone messages to directly contact voters before this weekend’s
by-elections, even though both parties claim to disapprove of the
method. The Advertiser
reports that the US government has given more than $3 million to a
South Australian researcher to develop vaccines that protect against
bioterrorism involving influenza and Hepatitis B. The Mercury
says Princess Mary’s March visit may have been popular with her fans,
but the visit cost taxpayers more than $500,000 – an average of around
$25,000 a day. The West Australian
reveals that a new guide to religious issues in government schools
advises that students should be taught about the Islamic observance of
Ramadan and Jewish festival days alongside the Christian traditions of
Christmas and Easter. And the NT News
leads with the “world scramble” for NT uranium, with 16 companies
taking out dozens of exploration licences and spending more than $10m a
year in the Territory.

Meanwhile Matthew Parris writes on his recent visit to Parliament House in Canberra in the latest edition of The Spectator
(subscriber only) observing: “I found myself quite taken aback by how
much I liked it. It comes as a shock to British sensibilities like mine
to see how a sense of stature and dignity can be achieved without
cobwebs, gargoyles or ivy.” Indeed Parris says he understands the
“antipodean” wish to dump the past, but realised it isn’t the same as
trying to deny the past, “it’s a matter of getting the tense right. It
is the past.” Parris concludes that what he saw in the architecture of
Parliament House in Canberra is what “inspires” him about Australia.
While the Palace of Westminster represents what “oppresses” him about
Britain.