The Australian

leads with Victoria’s gangland saga after former commonwealth police
officer and barrister Kerry Milte, hand picked by Victorian police chief
Christine Nixon to help fight gang crime, was charged with serious
corruption offences on Friday. The Oz also reports that Australian model Michelle
Leslie has admitted the two pills found in her Gucci handbag near Kuta
Beach in Bali were hers, but she denies knowing they were ecstasy
pills. And Peter Costello has urged radical Muslim clerics
to leave Australia if they do not share the nation’s values, warning
Australia cannot afford to be ambivalent about the teachings of
extremists.

The Sydney Morning Herald
leads with the mortgage woes of Sydneysiders after the Housing Industry
Association revealed that home loan affordability remains at “scary”
levels in Sydney even though property prices continue to fall across
the city. The SMH also reports on John Howard and Westfield
boss Frank Lowy receiving awards for public service and corporate
citizenship respectively, from the Woodrow Wilson Centre. Meanwhile, Australia Post is being accused of overcharging customers to redirect mail overseas to boost profits while traditional letter volumes dwindle.

The Daily Telegraph splashes with the latest Bali drugs scandal, “From the catwalk to a jail cell,” and reiterates that The Tele was the paper that revealed exclusively yesterday that Michelle Leslie had been arrested in Bali. The Tele also reports that Sydney will spend $20 million protecting two of the world’s most famous Catholics – Pope Benedict XVI and Mel Gibson – at World Youth Day in 2008, but the believers are expected to deliver up to $110 million to the NSW economy.

The Age
leads with the $50 million price tag to fix Victoria’s aging LEAP
database in a move by the State Government to stop the embarrassing
leaking of confidential police files. And an Age “exclusive” revels that thousands of unregistered vehicles
and unlicensed drivers are cruising around Melbourne. An average of
900 unregistered vehicles were detected every week last year, when
drivers were stopped for other misdemeanours, such as speeding.
And the Supreme Court heard that Victorian cricket coach David Hookes fell “like a tree” after being punched by bouncer Zdravko Micevic while standing with his hands by his side.

The Herald Sun
also goes big with the $50m new police files database which will be run
by a new independent watchdog to guard police files in future.
The Hun also reports on the latest twist in the Korp family
drama, with the news that Joe Korp’s former lover, convicted attempted
murderer Tania Herman, could sell her story to the highest bidder with offers being handled by celebrity agent Harry M. Miller.

The Courier-Mail
reports that it’s costing taxpayers almost $900 a day to keep Australian
woman Vivian Young in the Philippines, while her legal team and the
Federal Government work out the condition of her return. The Advertiser is all over the “BALI HELL” of local girl Michelle Leslie, after her arrest for drug possession in Bali. The Mercury
reports that the potential $4.6 billion takeover of Patrick Corp by
Toll could have an adverse affect on shipping services to
Tasmania. And in the Territory a 19-year-old man who was raped
after being put in the same jail cell as a serial rapist may have
grounds to sue the NT Government, according to legal experts, says the NT News.