The Australian

leads with Sol Trujillo’s new plan to cut its range of services by up
to 80%, which is expected to lead to massive job cuts across the board
and reduce running costs by up to $12 billion. And the Oz reports that
Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott
has apologised for comments he made about NSW liberal leader John Brogden. And in a win for the Christian lobby, Workplace Minister Kevin Andrews will today push cabinet to water down
its planned crackdown on welfare recipients, urging a rethink on cutting off dole payments for those who don’t
show up to interviews.

The Sydney Morning Herald
leads with Tony Abbott’s inflammatory Brogden comments uttered just
hours after the former opposition leader had attempted to commit
suicide, and reports that the comments could open up a new factional
battle inside the federal Liberal Party. Two detainees in NSW’s
Villawood detention centre who haven’t eaten in 14 days and are so weak they can’t walk say that they will continue to starve themselves until they die. Communications Minister Helen Coonan
has issued a “please explain” to the Telstra board, saying the company
needs to tell investors why Telstra’s ASX performance has been so poor.

The Daily Telegraph
reports that there may again be chaos on the Sydney rail system
today with a new train timetable expected to play havoc. Well known republican and federal Immigration
Minister Amanda Vanstone thinks it might be worth Australia adopting an animal as its
national emblem, but has admitted that with our millions of species it
could be a little tougher than it sounds.

The Age
covers its entire front page with the Hurricane Katrina aftermath,
reporting that more than one million people have been displaced and the
death toll has risen into the thousands, while President Bush continues
to take fire for his poor handling of the disaster. On the home front,
petrol prices are expected to break the $1.40 a litre
mark within a week and Australia’s frustrated motorists can expect to feel
the impact of Hurricane Katrina at the pump for up to two months. Victorian mothers will now be able to claim the infanticide defence if their child is under two years old when they die, instead of the previous 12 month limit.

The Herald Sun
leads with a father’s day tragedy with three children drowning after
their car plunged into a dam just outside Geelong yesterday. The
Victorian government will introduce laws to rid the state of pitbulls, making it compulsory for all current dogs to be de-sexed.

The Courier Mail
leads with Katrina’s devastating impact and reports that 10,000 extra
National Guard troops have flooded into the destroyed New Orleans. The Advertiser
reports that South Australians still have the lowest average mortgage
on the mainland, even though mortgage growth has outstripped all other
capital cities over the past three years. There’s also the tale of another shark attack off the South Australian coast.The West Australian runs with more personal tales of Katrina-fuelled rage.

The NT News
reports that the Northern Territory coroner has blamed police for not
enforcing a restraining order which led to the death of a woman at the
hands of her then boyfriend. The paper also reports that two interstate cricketers have been charged with the sexual assault of an 18 year-old woman over the weekend. And The Mercury leads with the pledge by the Liberal Opposition that they will abolish land tax in Tasmania if they win the next election.